LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 
HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


/. 


r  I AHE  public  favor  with  which  the  journalistic  writings  of 
-^  the  subscriber  have  been  received  prompted  the  publica- 
tion of  these  volumes.  Their  object  is  to  give  personal  details 
concerning  prominent  men  and  women  in  social  and  political  life 
at  the  National  Metropolis  since  he  has  known  it.  He  has 
especially  endeavored  to  portray  those  who  "  in  Congress  assem- 
bled "  have  enacted  the  laws,  and  those  who  have  interpreted  and 
enforced  the  provisions  under  which  the  United  States  has 
advanced,  during  the  past  sixty  years,  from  comparative  infancy 
into  the  vigor  of  mature  manhood,  and  has  successfully  defended 
its  own  life  against  a  vigorous  attempt  at  its  destruction. 

In  chronicling  what  has  transpired  within  his  personal  recol- 
lection at  the  National  Metropolis,  he  has  gathered  what  "  waifs  " 
he  has  found  floating  on  the  sea  of  chat,  in  the  whirlpools  of 
gossip,  or  in  the  quiet  havens  of  conversation.  Some  of  these 
may  be  personal — piquantly  personal,  perhaps — but  the  mighty 
public  has  had  an  appetite  for  gossipings  about  prominent  men 
and  measures  ever  since  the  time  when  the  old  Athenians  crowded 
to  hear  the  plays  of  Aristophanes. 

The  subscriber  is  aware  that  some  who  write  of  prominent 
persons  and  political  events  indulge  too  much  in  sycophantic  flat- 
tery, while  others  have  their  brains  addled  by  brooding  on  some 
fancied  wrong,  or  their  minds  have  lost  their  even  poise  by  dwell- 
ing on  insane  reforms  or  visionary  projects.  All  this  may  have 
its  use,  but  the  subscriber  has  preferred  to  look  at  things  in  a 


ii  Preface. 

more  cheerful  way,  to  pluck  roses  rather  than  nettles,  and  neither 
to  throw  filth  nor  to  blow  trumpets. 

While  the  Republic  has  preserved  with  commendable  pride 
the  histories  of  her  statesmen  and  her  martial  defenders,  it  is 
well  that  the  memories  of  those  of  the  gentler  sex,  who  have 
from  time  to  time  taken  prominent  part  in  shaping  the  destinies 
of  the  nation,  should  also  be  remembered.  This  work  will  give, 
it  is  hoped,  an  idea  of  stirring  events  in  both  political  and  social 
life,  of  the  great  men  and  the  fascinating  women  who  have 
figured  in  Washington  during  the  past  six  decades.  Those 
who  were  too  well  acquainted  with  these  personal  details  to 
think  of  recording  them  are  fast  passing  away,  and  some  account 
of  them  cannot  but  interest  younger  generations,  while  it  will  not 
fail  to  profit  the  older  politicians,  publicists,  and  journalists. 

The  great  difficulty  in  the  compilation  of  the  "  Reminiscences" 
has  been  the  selection  from  the  masses  of  material  accumulated 
in  diaries,  autograph  letters,  and  scrap-books  containing  published 
literary  matter.  To  have  given  a  connected  political  and  social 
history  of  what  has  transpired  at  the  National  Metropolis  during 
the  past  sixty  years  would  have  required  a  dozen  volumes,  so 
the  most  conspicuous  features  only  have  been  here  and  there 
selected. 

Confident  of  the  exact  truthfulness  of  the  sketches  here  given, 
this  work  is  presented,  without  apologies,  to  a  generous  public  as 
the  result  of  very  extensive  observation. 

BEN:    PERLEY  POORE. 

INDIAN  HILL  FARM, 

Near  Newburyport,  Mass. 


CONTBNTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS   BECOMES   PRESIDENT. 

The  Tenth  Presidential  Election— A  Political  Bargain — Election  of  President-^- 
A  Scene  in  the  House — Inauguration  of  J.  Q.  Adams — The  Adams  Admin- 
istration— The  Mistress  of  the  White  House — The  President's  Private  Sec- 
retary— Social  Life  at  the  White  House — President  Adams'  Daily  Life — 
Henry  Clay  as  Secretary  of  State— The  Rival  Candidates— The  Death  of  Two 
Ex- Presidents, 21 

CHAPTER  II. 
TRAVELING  IN  "YE  OLDEN  TIME." 

Travel  by  Stage  and  Steamboat — Boston  to  Providence — The  Old  Town  of 
Providence — The  Long  Island  Sound  Steamers — New  York  City — New  York 
to  Philadelphia — Philadelphia  to  Washington — Washington  Hotel  Life—  Ex- 
penses of  Living — The  Metropolis  of  the  Union — The  National  Capital — 
Works  of  Art — The  Rotunda — Free-Masonry — The  Morgan  Excitement — 
Theatrical — Division  of  the  Friends' Society, 37 

CHAPTER  III. 

JOURNALISM   IN    1828. 

Old  Georgetown — The  Union  Tavern — A  Natal  African  Salute — President 
George  Washington — Major  L' Enfant — Newspaper  Organs — The  National 
Intelligencer — The  National  Journal — Matthew  L.  Davis— James  Gordon 
Bennett — Mordecai  M.  Noah — Other  Washington  Correspondents — A  Notable 
Briton — Gambling- Houses — Senatorial  Card  Playing — Social  Games  of  Whist,  50 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PROMINENT  SENATORS  OF  1827. 

The  Nineteenth  Congress — Vice-President  John  C.  Calhoun — Martin  Van  Buren 
— Nathaniel  Macon,  of  North  Carolina — Thomas  Hart  Benton — Randolph,  of 
Roanoke — Duel  between  Clay  and  Randolph — An  Offended  Virginian — A 
Future  President — Prominent  Senators — Senatorial  Control  of  Society — The 
Dancing  Assemblies — Fashionable  Attire— Belles  of  the  Period — The  Code  of 

Honor,     . 63 

iii 


iv  Contents. 

CHAPTER  v. 

PROMINENT  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  1827. 

The  Representatives'  Hall — Admission  of  Ladies — Webster,  of  Massachusetts 
— Edward  Everett — McDuffie,  of  South  Carolina — Rhode  Island's  Bajd 
Eagle — A  Bargain  Exposed — Retrenchment  and  Reform — Prominent  Rep- 
resentatives— The  Supreme  Court — Chief  Justice  Marshall — Mr.  Justice  Wash- 
ington— The  Christmas  Holidays '  76 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  POLITICAL  MACHINE. 

The  Tenth  Presidential  Campaign — Election  of  General  Jackson — Death  of  Mrs. 
Andrew  Jackson — The  Inauguration  of  "  Old  Hickory" — Reception  at  the 
White  House — An  Editorial  Phalanx — The  Civil  Service — Disciplining  a 
Postmaster  General — A  Fortunate  Mail  Contractor — The  Sunday  Mail  Cru- 
sade   88 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   KITCHEN   CABINET. 

Jackson's  First  Annual  Message — The  Kitchen  Cabinet — Blair,  of  the  Globe — 
Washington  Newspapers  and  News — The  First  Lady-Birdtof  the  Press — Na- 
thaniel P.  Willis — Peter  Force — Social  Enjoyments — Mrs.  Trollope  on  Wash- 
ington Society — Attempt  to  Oust  a  Veteran  from  Office — Payment  of  the 
Claims  on  France, 102 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
BATTLE  OF  THE  GIANTS. 

The  Great  Senatorial  Debate — Attack  on  New  England — Webster's  Reply  to 
Hayne — Nullification  Nipped  in  the  Bud — Society  in  Jackson's  Day — Mrs. 
General  Eaton — A  Chivalrous  President — Theatricals — The  Great  Tragedian 
— Minor  Amusements — Executive  Charity — Swartwouting  —  The  Star  Span- 
gled Banner, 114 

CHAPTER  IX. 

STAMPING  OUT  OF  NULLIFICATION. 

Rejection  of  Martin  VanBuren — The  War  against  the  United  States  Bank — Nick 
Biddle,  of  the  Bank — Re-election  of  General  Jackson — Financial  Debates 
in  the  Senate — Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina — Secession  Stamped  Out — Union 
Proclamation — The  Expunging  Resolution — A  Senatorial  Scene — An  Appeal 
from  the  Chair,  . 129 

CHAPTER  X. 

PROMINENT  MEN   OF  JACKSON'S   TIME. 

Harry  of  the  West — Tilt  between  Clay  and  Benton — Rebuke  of  a  Revolu- 
tionary Hero— Apt  Oratorical  Illustration— Daniel  Webster's  Wit — An  Ex- 


Contents.  v 

cited  Visitor — The  House  of  Representatives — General  Houston  Reprimanded 
— Eli  Moore,  of  New  York — Churchill  C.  Cambreleng — Crockett,  of  Ten- 
nessee— Embryo  Presidents — Other  Distinguished  Representatives — A  Jackson 
Democrat, '. 145 

CHAPTER  XI. 

SOCIETY  IN  JACKSON'S  TIME. 

The  Van  Ness  Mansion — A  Benefactress — A  Popular  Citizen — A  Much-Talked- 
of  Lawsuit — A  Runaway  Nun — General  Jackson's  Diplomacy — Washington 
Society — Anecdotes  told  by  Mr.  Clay — Maelzel's  Automata — Condemned  Lit- 
erature,  157 

CHAPTER  XII. 

JACKSON  AND   HIS  ASSOCIATES. 

Democratic  Rejoicing — Attempt  at  Assassination — The  Political  Guillotine — 
The  Vicar  of  Bray — Daniel  Webster's  Memory — Bayard,  of  Delaware — The 
Claytons — Pearce,  of  Maryland — The  Classical  and  the  Vernacular — Bou- 
langer's — Location  of  the  New  Treasury  Building — Hackett,  the  Comdeian — 
A  Jealous  Artist — Sumner's  First  Visit  to  Washington — The  Supreme  Court 
and  its  Justices, 170 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
JACKSON'S  LAST  YEAR  IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Van  Buren  as  Vice-President—Henry  Clay  as  Champion  of  the  Bank — Wash- 
ington's Centennial  Birthday — Removal  of  His  Remains — The  Decapitation 
of  General  Jackson — The  President  at  the  Race- Track — An  Old-Time  Cock 
Fight — Wedding  at  Arlington — The  Public  Gardener — Miss  Fanny  Kemble 
— Cheese  Reception  at  the  White  House, 184 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
VAN  BUREN'S  STORMY  ADMINISTRATION. 

Inauguration  of  Van  Buren — His  First  Reception — Departure  of  Jackson  for 
the  Hermitage — Van  Buren's  Embarrassments — The  Great  Financial  Debate 
— Antagonism  of  Clay  and  Calhoun — An  Ail-Night  Session — Morning  Ex- 
cuses— The  Graves  and  Cilley  Duel — A  Congressional  Comedian, 198 

CHAPTER  XV. 

COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY  MOVEMENT. 

The  Slavery  Agitation — Early  Secession  Movements — Webster  on  Emancipa- 
tion— His  Idea  of  the  Far  West — Franklin  Pierce's  Position — The  Foremost 
of  Orators — Joseph  Holt — King,  of  Alabama — The  Buckshot  War — Star 
Routes — Van  Buren's  Titles, 210 


vi  Contents. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
POLITICAL  INTRIGUES  AND  SOCIAL  MOVEMENTS. 

Presidential  Hospitalities — Social  Entertainments — A  Gifted  Adventuress — Espy, 
the  Weather  King — A  Foreign  Indorsement — Van  Buren's  Re-election — 
The  Ogle  Speech — Van  Buren's  New  Year's  Reception 220 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

LOG-CABINS  AND  HARD  CIDER. 

The  Harrison  Campaign — Political  Songs — Whig  Conventions — Great  Parades 
— Corwin's  Reply  to  Crary — Crary's  Complete  Discomfiture — The  Campaign 
Paper — Horace  Greeley — Henry  Clay  on  the  Stump — Amos  Kendall — The 
Fall  Elections — Pipe  Laying — The  Whigs  Triumphant,  .........  232 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ENTER  WHIGS — EXIT  DEMOCRATS. 

The  Fourteenth  Presidential  Election — Enter  Harrison — Exit  Van  Buren — The 
Harrison  Cabinet — Attack  upon  Mr.  Webster — "  The  Salt  Boiler  of  the  Kan- 
awha" — The  other  Cabinet  Officers — Harrison's  Inaugural  Message — The 
Inauguration — The  Procession — Scenes  at  the  Capitol — The  Inaugural  Ad- 
dress— President  Harrison's  First  Reception — Inauguration  Balls, 243 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
HARRISON'S  ONE  MONTH  OF  POWER. 

Civil  Service  Reform — Differences  of  Opinion — Difficulty  between  Clay  and 
King — Washington  Correspondents — Verbatim  Reports  of  Debates  —A  Popu- 
lar British  Minister — Other  Foreign  Diplomats — Quarrelsome  Carolinians — 
Daniel  Webster's  Housekeeping — Illness  of  President  Harrison — Death — 
Funeral — The  Last  Honors, 256 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   KING  IS   DEAD — LONG  LIVE  THE  KING. 

"  Le  Roi  Est  Mort;  Vive  le  Roi" — Extra  Session  of  Congress — Trouble  in 
the  Whig  Camp — Edward  Everett  before  the  Senate — Thurlow  Weed — Dis- 
sensions among  the  Whigs — Cabinet  Troubles — Congressional  Criticisms — 
Gushing  and  Adams,  of  Massachusetts — Wise,  of  Virginia — Bagby,  of  Ala- 
bama,   269 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

DIPLOMATIC  AND  SOCIAL   LIFE  OF  WEBSTER. 

The  Ashburton  Treaty — Diplomatic  Negotiations — Speech  by  Daniel  Webster — 
Webster's  Social  Life — Mr.  Clay's  Nightcaps — Administration  Organs — 
Justice  to  John  Tyler, 282 


Contents.  vii 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  CAPITOL  AND  THE  DRAWING   ROOMS. 

\  Stormy  Session — John  Quincy  Adams  at  Bay — The  Code  of  Honor — The 
Supreme  Court — Visit  of  Charles  Dickens — The  Secretary  of  State's  Party — 
A  Reception  at  the  White  House — The  President's  Ball  for  Children — Diplo- 
matic Hospitality — Ole  Bull — A  Troublesome  Congressman, 291 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
LIGHTS  AND  SHADOWS. 

The  Accidental  President — Virginia  Hospitality— Second-Hand  Style — The 
Pathfinder's  Marriage — Baron  de  Bodisco,  of  Russia — Mr.  Fox,  of  Great 
Britain — The  Author  of  "  Sweet  Home  " — The  Daguerreotype — The  Elec- 
tric Telegraph — The  New  York  Tribune — Resignation  of  Mr.  Webster — Re- 
construction of  the  Cabinet — Fatal  Accident  on  the  Princeton — Marriage  of 
President  Tyler, - .  .  303 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

HOW  TEXAS   BECAME  A  STATE. 

John  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of  State — How  Tyler  was  Managed — Admbsion 
of  Texas — Douglas,  of  Illinois — An  Able  House  of  Representatives — An  Ex- 
citing Campaign — President  Tyler's  Programme — Nomination  of  Henry 
Clay — The  Democratic  Ticket— Surprise  of  George  M.  Dallas — The  Liberty 
Party— Exit  John  Tyler, 314 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

PRESIDENT   FOLK'S   ADMINISTRATION. 

Inauguration  of  Polk — His  Personal  Appearance — Inauguration  Balls — Mrs. 
Polk — Secretary  Buchanan — Governor  Marcy,  of  New  York — Completion  of 
the  Cabinet— The  Oregon  Difficulty— The  Mexican  War — A  Change  of 
Organist ' 326 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

DEATH   OF  JOHN   QUINCY  ADAMS. 

Washington  Society — An  Old  Whig  Supper  — Death  of  John  Quincy  Adams  — 
Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  House — Jefferson  Davis  a  Representative — The 
Democratic  Nomination — Lewis  Cass,  of  Michigan — The  Whig  Convention 
— Daniel  Webster  and  Henry  Clay — Nomination  of  General  Taylor — Letter 
of  Acceptance — The  Free-Soil  Movement — Inception  of  the  Great  Con- 
spiracy,   338 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MAKING  THE   MOST   OF  POWER. 

President  Taylor  and  His  Secretary — Selection  of  the  Taylor  Cabinet — The 
Taylor  Family — Jefferson  Davis — Inauguration  Ceremonies — Office  Seekers — 


viii  Contents. 

, 

Patronage  and  Spoils — The  Galphin,  Gardiner,  and  other  Claims — The  Tay- 
lor Administration — The  White  House, 349 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  GREAT  COMPROMISE  DEBATE. 

Stormy  Scenes  at  the  Capitol — Crimination  and  Recrimination — Taylor's  Only 
Message — Return  of  Mr.  Clay  to  the  Senate — The  Great  Compromise  Debate 
• — Webster's  Seventh  of  March  Speech — The  Last  Days  of  Calhoun — Jeffer- 
son Davis'  Leadership — John  P.  Hale,  of  New  Hampshire, 359 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

PROMINENT   STATESMEN  AND  DIPLOMATS. 

Sam  Houston,  of  Texas — Seward,  of  New  York — Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania — 
Agricultural  Donations — Diplomatic  Representatives — Social  Enjoyments — 
Withrop's  Farewell  Supper — Fatal  Illness  of  General  Taylor — Death  of  the 
President,  . „ 369 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

FILLMORE  AT  THE  WHITE   HOUSF, 

President  Fillmore — Funeral  of  General  Taylor — Webster  again  Secretary  of 
State — The  Compromise  Measures — Mrs.  Millard  Fillmore- — A  Proud  Father 
— The  Capitol  Extension — The  Library  of  Congress — Washington  Society — 
Public  Amusements, 379 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

ARRAIGNMENT  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

Accusation  Against  Mr.  Webster — The  "Expounder  of  the  Constitution1'  Sore 
at  Heart — Belligerent  Mississippians — Painting  and  Sculpture  at  the  Capitol 
— Overland  Explorations — A  Washington  Mob — A  Washington  Correspond- 
ent,   ; 390 

4 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

FOREIGN   INFLUENCE  AND   KNOW-NOTHINGISM. 

'  Filibustering  " — The  Hulsemann  Letter — Kossuth,  of  Hungary — The  Know- 
Nothings — Boss  Tweed,  of  New  York — Butler,  of  South  Carolina — Other 
Prominent  Senators — Exit  Clay — Enter  Sumner — The  Officers  of  the  House,  401 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

PLOTTING   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY. 

Piesident-Making — Political  Intiigues — The  Democratic  Convention — Nomi- 
nation of  General  Pierce — The  Whig  Candidates — Rivalry  Between  Webster 
and  Filimore — The  Last  Whig  National  Convention — Death  of  Henry  Clay — 


Contents.  ix 

General  Scott  as  a  Candidate — General  Frank  Pierce,  of  New  Hampshire — 
Death  of  Daniel  Webster — General  Pierce  Elected  President, 412 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

PIERCE  BECOMES   PRESIDENT. 

Inauguration  of  President  Pierce — Vice-President  King — The  Cabinet — Popu- 
larity of  the  New  President — Pryor,  of  Virginia — Rare  Old  Wines — Peale's 
Portraits  of  Washington — Brady's  Portraits — Visit  of  Thackeray — A  Copy- 
right Victim — Jullien's  Concerts, 424 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

CHIVALRY,  AT   HOME  AND  ABROAD. 

Executive  Appointments — The  Ostend  Manifesto — Mr.  Buchanan  at  London — • 
The  Kansas- Nebraska  Debate — Spicy  Words  Between  Breckinridge  and 
Cutting  —  Diplomatic  Card-Playing  —  Assistant- Secretary  Thomas  —  The 
Amoskeag  Veterans, 435 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

CRYSTALLIZATION   OF  THE  REPUBLICAN   PARTY. 

Formation  of  the  Republican  Party — The  Election  of  Speaker — Mr.  Banks 
Triumphant — Division  of  the  Spoils — A  Protracted  Session — Assault  on 
Horace  Greeley — Territorial  Delegates — The  Senate — The  Virginia  Senators 
— "  Hale,"  of  New  Hampshire,  .  , ,  .  .  , 447 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

POLITICAL  STORM   AND   SOCIAL  SUNSHINE. 

Sumner,  of  Massachusetts — The  Assault  on  Sumner — Troublous  Times — Con- 
gressional Courtesies — Senatorial  Wit — Convention  of  Old  Soldiers — Social 
Routine  at  the  White  House — Society  Gatherings, 460 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

GROWTH   OF  THE  METROPOLIS. 

The  Crampton  Difficulty — Unsuccessful  French  Mediation — The  Diplomatic 
Corps — Information  for  Publication — Mr.  Buchanan  in  England — Washing- 
ton Hotels— The  New  Hall  of  the  House, 474 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

THE  NORTHERN   CHAMPIONS. 

Fessenden,  of  Maine — The  Stirling  Claim — Social  Festivities— Marriage  of 
Judge  Douglas — Congressional  Scenes — Secretary  of  War  Davis — Art  and 
Literature— George  W.  Childs— J.  R.  Bartlett 487 


x  Contents. 

CHAPTER  XL. 

EXCITING  PRESIDENTIAL  CONTEST. 

Democratic  Candidates  for  the  Presidency-°-James  Buchanan — Stephen  A. 
Douglas — Delegates  to  the  Cincinnati  Convention — The  Struggle — The  Dis- 
organized Democracy  United — Opposition  Nominations — The  Republican 
Convention — Election  of  Mr.  Buchanan — Counting  the  Votes, 497 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

MISS   LANE  IN  THE   WHITE   HOUSE. 

President-elect  Buchanan — Miss  Harriet  Lane — The  New  Cabinet  and  the 
Message — The  Newspaper  Organs — Inauguration  of  President  Buchanan — 
The  Inauguration  Ball — The  Dred  Scott  Decision — The  Minority  Decision,  507 

CHAPTER  XLII. 

DIPLOMACY,  SOCIETY,   AND   CIVIL  SERVICE. 

Foreign  Relations — Lord  Napier,  the  British  Minister — Sir  William  Gore 
Ouseley — Society  in  Washington — A  Fashionable  Pretender — Civil  Service — 
Office  Seeking — Choate's  Handwriting — The  Governors  of  Kansas 519 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

PRELUDE  TO  THE   REBELLION. 

Organization  of  the  Senate — John  Slidell,  of  Louisiana — Senator  Douglas 
Opposes  the  Administration — Ben  Wade's  Bon  Mot — Meeting  of  the  House — 
Election  of  Speaker — Investigation  of  the  Wolcott  Attempt  at  Bribery — De- 
bates on  the  Admission  of  Kansas — Nocturnal  Row  in  the  House — The 
North  Victorious 528 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 

POLITICIANS,  AUTHORS,  AND   HUMORISTS. 

Wade,  of  Ohio— Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi — Johnson,  of  Arkansas — 
Anthony,  of  Rhode  Island — Trollope,  of  England — One  of  Mike  Walsh' <? 
Jokes— Albert  Pike's  Wake 538 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


BEN  :  PERLEY  PQORE  (Steel), FRONTISPIECE. 

PAGE 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS, 22 

SOUTH  FRONT  OF  WHITE  HOUSE.    (1825), 24 

GENERAL  JACKSON.  (1827), 25 

VELOCIPEDE  OF  1827.    (From  an  old  Engraving), 30 

JOHN  ADAMS, 34 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 35 

STAGE  ARRIVAL  AT  DEDHAM, 38 

DOWN  THE  DELAWARE, 41 

To  BALTIMORE  BY  STEAMBOAT 42 

EAST  FRONT  OF  CAPITOL.    (1825),.   .   ." 45 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 51 

DAVID  BURNS'  HOUSE, 53 

JOSEPH  GALES 55 

COLONEL  W.  W.  SEATON, 56 

JAMES  GORDON  BENNETT.  (From  an  old  Engraving), 58 

JOHN  H.  EATON, 65 

THOMAS  H.  BENTON.     (From  an  old  Pen  Sketch), 67 

JOHN  RANDOLPH.     (From  an  old  Caricature), 68 

DANCING  PARTY  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ELITE, 73 

LAFAYETTE.     (From  an  old  Engraving), 77 

EDWARD  EVERETT, 80 

JUDGE  STORY  IN  HIS  OFFICIAL  ROBE, .  84 

'*  COMPLETELY  FLOORED," 86 

ANDREW  JACKSON, 89 

OLD  WAR  DEPARTMENT, , 91 

FIRST  RAILROAD  CAR.     (From  an  old  Engraving), 99 

FIRST  LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINE.     (From  an  old  Engraving), 100 

NATHANIEL  P.  WILLIS, • 107 

EAST  ROOM  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 112 

DANIEL  WEBSTER, 115 

GENERAL  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE, 116 

WEBSTER'S  REPLY  TO  HAYNE.     (After  Healy's  Picture), 117 

LIEUTENANT  RANDOLPH'S  ATTACK  ON  JACKSON, 121 

xi 


xii  List  of  Illustrations. 

PAGE 

MRS.  EATON  AT  SIXTY- FOUR, 123 

JUNIUS  BRUTUS  BOOTH, 125 

JAMES  MONROE, 127 

JACKSON  RECEIVING  THE  DELEGATES, 132 

UNITED  STATES  BANK  AT  PHILADELPHIA.     (1830), 134 

THE  EXPUNGED  RESOLUTION, 141 

BROWN'S  BUST  OF  HENRY  CLAY, 144 

HENRY  CLAY  ADDRESSING  THE  SENATE, 147 

DAVID  CROCKETT.     (From  an  old  Portrait), 152 

GENERAL  FINDLAY'S  LAND  SALE, \   .  154 

THE  VAN  NESS  MAUSOLEUM, 159 

OLD  STATE  DEPARTMENT  BUILDING 162 

GENERAL  JAMES  MILLER.     (From  an  old  Portrait),  . 163 

ALEXANDER   HAMILTON, 168 

ATTEMPTED  SHOOTING  OF  GENERAL  JACKSON, 171 

THE  CONGRESSIONAL  LIBRARY, 177 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,      . 180 

CHARLES  SUMNER  IN  1834, 182 

MOUNT  VERNON, 185 

COMMODORE  J.  D.  ELLIOTT.     (From  an  old  Portrait), 187 

THE  HEAD  RESTORED, 188 

CAPTAIN  DEWEY'S  CARD, 189 

THE  HERMITAGE  BIRDS,  .  • 191 

ARLINGTON, 192 

LIEUTENANT  ROBERT  E.  LEE.     (From  an  old  Portrait), 193 

Miss  FANNY  KEMBLE, 194 

THE  GREAT  CHEESE  LEVEE 196 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN, 199 

MAIN  FLOOR  OF  CAPITOL  IN  1837, 200 

CAMPING  IN  A  BARBER-SHOP, 202 

THE  HERMITAGE, 203 

ORIGINAL  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, • 212 

WILLIAM  LLOYD  GARRISON, 214 

JOSEPH  HOLT, 215 

WILLIAM  R.  KING, 216 

THADDEUS  STEVENS, 217 

MRS.  EX-PRESIDENT  MADISON.    (From  an  old  Engraving) 222 

AMERICA  VESPUCCI, 223 

AFTER  THE  LADIES  HAVE  GONE, 224 

SIGNAL  SERVICE  AND  WEATHER  BUREAU, 226 

AMOS  KENDALL,     , 227 

BLUE  ROOM  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 230 

TIPPECANOE  LOG  CABIN.    (From  a  Campaign  Engraving), 233 


List  of  Illustrations.  xiii 


A  TIPPECANOE  PROCESSION, 234. 

GENERAL  CRARY  MARSHALING  HIS  HOSTS, 236 

HARD  CIDER  TRIUMPHANT, »  237 

HORACE  GREELEY, 238 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD 240 

WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON, 244 

CITY  HALL,  WASHINGTON, 245 

ASHLAND, .* 246 

ROCK  CREEK,    • •   • 248 

COLLEGE  OF  GEORGETOWN, 252 

JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN, 257 

DECATUR  MANSION,  THE  BRITISH  LEGATION.    (1841), 261 

MARSHFIELD,  THE  HOME  OF  WEBSTER, 264 

THE  NATION  IN  MOURNING, 267 

JOHN  TYLER, 270 

FUNERAL  OF  THE  SUB-TREASURY,       271 

RUFUS  CHOATE, 274 

CALEB  GUSHING, 277 

HENRY  A.  WISE, 279 

ORIGINAL  SEAT  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT, 283 

THE  SWANN  HOUSE , 284 

ABBOTT  LAWRENCE, 286 

WEBSTER'S  AFRICAN  COOK, 287 

LEVI  WOODBURY.     (From  an  old  Portrait), 292 

CHARLES  DICKENS, 296 

WASHINGTON  IRVING .   . 297 

PARTY  FOR  CHILDREN  AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 299 

OLE  BULL, 301 

BEAU  HICKMAN 304 

JOHN  C.  FREMONT, 305 

JOHN  HOWARD  PAYNE'S  MONUMENT, 308 

SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE, 309 

BURSTING  OF  THE  GUN  ON  THE  PRINCETON, 312 

STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 315 

ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP 316 

HAMILTON  FISH, 317 

THEODORE  FRELINGHUYSEN.    (From  an  old  Portrait), .  320 

DALLAS  NOTIFIED  OF  HIS  NOMINATION, 322 

Ex -PRESIDENT  TYLER  LEFT, 324 

JAMES  K.  POLK, 327 

FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  WASHINGTON, 329 

A  SCRAMBLE  FOR  SUPPER, 330 

WILLIAM  L.  MARCY, 333 

ROBERT  J.  WALKER, 334 


xiv  List  of  Illustrations. 

PAGE 

COMMODORE  ROBERT  F.  STOCKTON, 339 

THE  LAST  OF  EARTH, 340 

MEETING  CHARGE  OF  THE  MEXICAN  LANCERS,  BUENA  VISTA, ,  343 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEVENS, 344 

THURLOW  WEED, 347 

ZACHARY  TAYLOR, 350 

THOMAS  EWING, „ 351 

REVERDY  JOHNSON, 352 

NEW  COLLEGE  AT  GEORGETOWN, 354 

PRESIDENT  TAYLOR  ON  THE  STREET, 357 

HOWELL  COBB 360 

CALHOUN'S  LAST  APPEARANCE  IN  THE  SENATE, 366 

SALMON  P.  CHASE, 367 

SAM  HOUSTON  IN  THE  SENATE, 371 

AGRICULTURAL  DEPARTMENT, 373 

TEA- PARTY  IN  TAYLOR'S  TIME 375 

"OLD  ZACH."  ON  "OLD  WHITEY," 377 

MlLLARD  FlLLMORE, 380 

GREAT  FALLS  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 383 

WEBSTER'S  RESPONSE 385 

SENATE  EXTENSION  OF  THE  CAPITOL,    ..." 387 

GEORGE  ASHMUN, 391 

A  Row  IN  CONGRESS 395 

THE  BRASS  ROCKING-HORSE, 397 

THE  FAMOUS  FILIBUSTER,  GENERAL  WALKER, 402 

Louis  KOSSUTH, 404 

TWEED  INTRODUCING  BIG  Six's  BOYS, 408 

LEWIS  CASS, 413 

CHAPULTEPEC,  STORMED  BY  GENERAL  SCOTT, 416 

SCOTT  ENTERING  THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO, 417 

THE  SOLDIERS'  HOME, 420 

WEBSTER'S  GRAVE  AT  MARSHFIELD,  '. 422 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE, -   .    .  425 

EASTERN  PORTICO  OF  THE  CAPITOL, 426 

THACKERAY  AND  MAJOR  LANE, 431 

REMBRANDT  PEALE'S  WASHINGTON, 433 

OFFICE  SEEKERS 436 

MRS.  DANIEL  L.  SICKLES, 444 

AMOSKEAG  VETERANS, 445 

COMPLETELY  EATEN  OUT, ' 449 

THE  SPEAKER'S  MACE, 451 

SPEAKER  NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS, 452 

FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW  IN  OPERATION, 454 


List  of  Illustrations.  xv 


PAGE 


JOHN  M.  MASON, 457 

JOHN  P.  HALE, 458 

PRESTON  S.  BROOKS, 462 

ANSON  BURLINGAME, 463 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  SCOTT, 465 

OLD-FASHIONED  ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE, 467 

STATE  DINING-ROOM  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 469 

GREEN  DRAWING-ROOM  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 471 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 476 

ONE  OF  THE  LEGATION, 478 

SUTER'S  TAVERN, 481 

EBBITT  HOUSE 482 

WILLARD'S  HOTEL, 483 

NEW  HALL  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 485 

WILLIAM  PITT  FESSENDEN, 488 

NEW  SENATE  CHAMBER, 491 

DERBY'S  HOOK  AND  PLATE  ATTACHMENT, 494 

JAMES  A.  BAYARD, 499 

WASHINGTON'S  CHURCH  AND  PEW,  ALEXANDRIA 503 

ISAAC  TOUCEY, 504 

CORCORAN  GALLERY  OF  ART, 508 

PATENT  OFFICE  AND  INTERIOR  DEPARTMENT  BUILDING, 509 

BUREAU  OF  ENGRAVING  AND  PRINTING  BUILDING, 510 

GENERAL  QUITMAN, 512 

JAMES  BUCHANAN, .  514 

MAIN  ENTRANCE  TO  WHITE  HOUSE.  (1857), 515 

Miss  HARRIET  LANE, 522 

SECRETARY  J.  THOMPSON, 523 

AN  ASSEMBLY  IN  BUCHANAN'S  TIME, 526 

A  SURPRISING  DISCOVERY, 525 

JOHN  SLIDELL, 530 

HENRY  WILSON, 532 

A  FIGHT  BY  NIGHT, 533 

AN  OLD-TIME  MAMMY  IN  HER  OLD-TIME  HOME, 539 

THE  WAKE  AT  COYLE'S, 543 


LIST  OF  AUTOGRAPHS. 


PAGE 

ANDREW  JACKSON,    „ 36 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS, 49 

WILLIAM  HARRIS  CRAWFORD. 62 

EDWARD   EVERETT 75 

HENRY  CLAY, 87 

JOHN  CALDWELL  CALHOUN, 101 

SILAS  WRIGHT,  JR., 113 

DANIEL  WEBSTER,     128 

THOMAS  HART  BENTON, 142 

RICHARD  MENTOR  JOHNSON, 156 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  STEPHENS, „  169 

ANDREW  STEVENSON 183 

WILLIAM  RUFUS  KING, 197 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN, 209 

TRISTAM  BURGESS, 219 

WILLIAM  LEARNED  MARCY, 231 

THOMAS  CORWIN, 242 

WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON, 255 

THOMAS  EWING, 268 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE 281 

RUFUS  CHOATE,     290 

FELIX  GRUNDY 302 

CALEB  GUSHING 313 

STEPHEN  ARNOLD  DOUGLAS, : 325 

JAMES  KNOX  POLK, 337 

xvii 


xviii  List  of  Autographs. 


PAGE. 


HENRY  STUART  FOOTE, 348 

ZACHARY  TAYLOR, 358 

ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP, 368 

WILLIAM  HENRY  SEWARD, 378 

MlLLARD  FlLLMORE 389 

ROBERT  JAMES  WALKER, 400 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 411 

JOHN  JORDAN  CRITTENDEN, 423 

THADDEUS  STEVENS, 434 

JOHN  TYLER 446 

LEWIS  CASS, 459 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON 473 

ABBOTT  LAWRENCE, 486 

NATHANIEL  PRENTISS  BANKS, 496 

WINFIELD  SCOTT, 506 

JOHN  BUCHANAN  FLOYD, 518 

PETER  FORCE, 527 

HOWELL  COBB, 537 

GEORGE  BANCROFT, 544 


PERLEY'S  REMINISCENCES, 


VOL.     I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

JOHN   QUINCY  ADAMS   BECOMES   PRESIDENT. 

THE  TENTH  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION — A  POLITICAL  BARGAIN — ELEC- 
TION OP  PRESIDENT — A  SCENE  IN  THE  HOUSE — INAUGURATION  OP  J. 
Q.  ADAMS — THE  ADAMS  ADMINISTRATION — THE  MISTRESS  OP  THE 
WHITE  HOUSE — THE  PRESIDENT'S  PRIVATE  SECRETARY — SOCIAL  LIFE 
AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE — PRESIDENT  ADAMS'  DAILY  LIFE — HENRY 
CLAY  AS  SECRETARY  OF  STATE — THE  RIVAL  CANDIDATES — THE 
DEATH  OP  TWO  EX-PRESIDENTS. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  was  elected  President  of 
the  United  States  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives on  February  Qth,  1825.  At  the  tenth  popu- 
lar election  for  President,  during  the  previous  autumn, 
there  had  been  four  candidates  :  Andrew  Jackson,  then 
a  Senator  from  Tennessee,  who  received  ninety-nine 
electoral  votes ;  John  Quincy  Adams,  of  Massachu- 
setts, then  Secretary  of  State  under  President  Monroe, 
who  received  eighty-four  electoral  votes ;  William  H. 
Crawford,  of  Georgia,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
who  received  forty-one  electoral  votes,  and  Henry  Clay, 
of  Kentucky,  then  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, who  received  thirty-seven  electoral  votes — 
in  all  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  electoral  votes.  As 
neither  candidate  had  received  the  requisite  majority  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-one  electoral  votes,  the  election 
of  a  President  devolved  upon  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, in  which  body  each  State  would  have  one  vote. 
As  the  Constitution  required  that  the  choice  of  the 

21 


22 


Per  ley*  s   Reminiscences. 


House  be  confined  to  the  three  highest  candidates  on 
the  list  of  those  voted  for  by  the  electors,  and  as  Mr. 
Clay  was  not  one  of  the  three,  he  was  excluded.  Ex- 
ercising, as  he  did,  great  control  over  his  supporters,  it 
was  within  his  power  to  transfer  their  strength  to 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

either  Adams  or  Jackson,  thus  deciding  the  election. 
The  Legislature  of  his  State,  Kentucky,  had  to  a  cer- 
tain degree  instructed  him,  by  passing  a  joint  resolu- 
tion declaring  its  preference  for  Jackson  over  Adams, 
and  Jackson  always  believed  that  had  he  accepted  over- 


Barefaced  Corruption.  23 

ttires  made  to  him,  for  the  promise  of  the  Department 
of  State  to  Mr.  Clay,  that  would  have  insured  his 
election. 

Mr.  Clay  decided,  however,  to  request  his  friends  to 
support  Mr.  Adams.  To  one  of  them  he  wrote  :  "  Mr. 
Adams,  you  well  know,  I  should  never  have  selected  if 
at  liberty  to  draw  from  the  whole  mass  of  our  citizens 
for  a  President.  But  there  is  no  danger  of  his  election 
now  or  in  time  to  come.  Not  so  of  his  competitor,  of 
whom  I  cannot  believe  that  killing  two  thousand  five 
hundred  Englishmen  at  New  Orleans  qualifies  for  the 
various,  difficult,  and  complicated  duties  of  the  Chief 
Magistracy."  Many  believed,  however,  that  a  bargain 
was  made  between  Adams  and  Clay  by  which  the 
latter  received,  as  a  consideration  for  transferring  to 
the  former  the  votes  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and  Missouri, 
the  position  of  Secretary  of  State.  The  charge  was 
distinctly  made  by  Mr.  George  Kremer,  a  Representa- 
tive from  Pennsylvania,  and  as  positively  denied  by 
Mr.  Clay.  General  Jackson  wrote  to  Major  Lewis: 
"  So,  you  see,  the  Judas  of  the  West  has  closed  the 
contract  and  will  receive  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 
His  end  will  be  the  same.  Was  there  ever  witnessed 
such  a  barefaced  corruption  in  any  country  before  ?" 

When  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives 
met  in  joint  convention  to  count  the  electoral  votes  it 
was  found  (as  every  one  present  had  known  for 
months)  that  no  one  had  received  the  requisite  ma- 
jority. This  was  formally  announced  by  Vice-Presi- 
dent  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  who  also  declared  that  John 
C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  had  been  elected  Vice- 
President.  The  Senate,  headed  by  the  Vice-President 
and  its  Secretary,  Charles  Cutts,  then  retired,  and  the 
House  proceeded  to  ballot  for  President. 


24  Perley^s   Reminiscences. 

The  election  was  by  States.  Bach  State  delegation 
appointed  one  of  their  number  to  act  as  chairman, 
collect  their  votes,  and  report  the  result.  Whoever  in 
each  delegation  received  the  most  votes  was  reported  as 
the  choice  of  that  delegation  to  the  tellers — one  from 
each  State — who  sat  in  parties  of  twelve  at  two  tables. 


SOUTH  FRONT  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE,  1825. 

Daniel  Webster,  the  teller  of  Massachusetts,  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  tellers  at  one  of  the  tables  to  announce 
the  result  of  the  ballot,  and  John  Randolph,  the  teller 
of  Virginia,  was  appointed  to  the  same  service  at  the 
other  table.  The  votes  of  most  of  the  States  were 
matters  of  confident  calculation,  but  those  of  others 


John   Quincy  Adams  Elected. 


were  in  some  degree  doubtful,  and  there  was  intense 
interest  manifested  as  their  votes  were  announced.  At 
last,  when  the  twenty-four  States  had  voted,  Mr.  Webster 
announced,  in  his  deep 
voice,  that  thirteen  States 
had  voted  for  John  Quincy 
Adams,  seven  States  had 
voted  for  Andrew  Jack- 
son, and  four  States  had 
voted  for  William  H. 
Crawford.  Mr.  Speaker 
Clay  then  announced,  in 
sonorous  tones:  "John 
Quincy  Adams,  having 
received  a  maj  ority  of  the 
votes  cast,  is  duly  elected 
President  of  the  United 
States  for  four  years,  from 
the  4th  of  March  next 
ensuing." 

A  shout  arose  from  the 
occupants  of  the  galle- 
ries, which  Mr.  McDuffie 
promptly  asked  might  be 
cleared.  The  vote  was 
carried,  and  a  young  man, 
who  was  Deputy  Ser- 
geant-at-Arms,  mounting 
to  the  broad  stone  cor- 
which  ran  around 


GENERAL  JACKSON. 


nice 


the  hall  outside  of  the  floor  of  the  galleries,  but  on  a. 
level  with  them,  exclaimed,  as  he  walked  along  :  "  The 
Speaker  orders  the  galleries  to  be  cleared ;  all  must 
retire.  Clear  the  galleries !"  The  command  was 


26  Per ley^s   Reminiscences. 

obeyed,  to  the  astonishment  of  some  of  the  foreign 
ministers  present,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  see 
armed  guards  at  such  assemblages,  and  often  to  wit- 
ness their  unsuccessful  attempts  to  move  the  populace. 
The  House  soon  afterward  adjourned. 

That  evening  President  Monroe  gave  a  public  recep- 
tion at  the  White  House,  which  had  just  been  rebuilt- 
after  having  been  burned  by  the  British  army — in  1814. 
The  two  candidates,  Mr.  Adams,  the  elect,  and  General 
Jackson,  the  defeated,  accidentally  met  in  the  East 
Room.  General  Jackson,  who  was  escorting  a  lady, 
promptly  extended  his  hand,  saying  pleasantly  :  "  How 
do  you  do,  Mr.  Adams?  I  give  you  my  left  hand,  for 
the  right,  as  you  see,  is  devoted  to  the  fair.  I  hope  you 
are  very  well,  sir."  All  this  wa's  gallantly  and  heartily 
said  and  done,  Mr.  Adams  took  the  General's  hand, 
and  said,  with  chilling  coldness:  "Very  well,  sir;  I 
hope  General  Jackson  is  well !  "  The  military  hero  was 
genial  and  gracious,  while  the  unamiable  diplomat  was 
as  cold  as  an  iceberg. 

The  inauguration  of  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1825,  was  tne  m°st  imposing  demonstration  ever 
witnessed  at  Washington  up  to  that  time.  President 
Monroe  called  for  his  successor  and  they  rode  together 
to  the  Capitol,  escorted  by  the  District  uniformed 
militia  and  by  a  cavalcade  of  citizens  marshaled  by 
Daniel  Carroll,  of  Duddington,  General  John  Mason, 
General  Walter  Smith,  and  General  Walter  Jones,  four 
prominent  residents.  On  reaching  the  Capitol  the 
President-elect  was  received  with  military  honors  by  a 
battalion  of  the  Marine  Corps.  He  was  then  escorted 
by  a  committee  of  Senators  to  the  Senate  Chamber, 
where  the  oath  of  office  was  administered  to  the  Vice- 
President-elect,  John  C.  Calhoun.  The  dignitaries  pres- 


Inauguration  of  Adams.  27 

ent  then  moved  in  procession  to  the  hall  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  on  the  floor  of  which  were  the  Senators 
and  Representatives,  the  Supreme  Court,  the  diplomatic 
corps,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  many  promi- 
nent officials,  while  the  galleries  were  filled  with  hand- 
somely dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen.  Mr.  Adams  read 
his  inaugural  address  from  the  Speaker's  desk,  after 
which  the  oath  of  office  was  administered  to  him  by 
Chief  Justice  Marshall.  Salutes  were  fired  from  the 
Navy  Yard  and  the  Arsenal,  and  the  new  President  was 
escorted  to  his  house,  on  F  Street,  where  he  that  evening 
received  his  friends,  for  whom  generous  supplies  of 
punch  and  wines  were  hospitably  provided. 

President  Adams,  although  at  heart  instigated  by  a 
Puritan  intolerance  of  those  who  failed  to  conform  with 
himself,  was  a  true  patriot,  and  as  a  public  man  was 
moved  by  the  highest  moral  motives.  He  was  a  great 
statesman  in  so  far  as  the  comprehension  of  the  princi- 
ples of  government  and  a  mastery  of  a  wide  field  of 
in  formation  were  concerned,  but  he  could  not  practically 
apply  his  knowledge.  Instead  of  harmonizing  the 
personal  feuds  between  the  friends  of  those  who  had 
been  candidates  with  him,  he  antagonized  each  one 
with  his  Administration  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment,  and  before  the  expiration  of  his  first  year 
in  the  White  House  he  had  wrecked  the  Republican 
party  left  by  Monroe,  as  completely  as  his  father  had 
wrecked  the  Federal  party  established  by  Washington. 

The  President,  when  in  London,  had  married  Miss 
Louisa  Catherine  Johnson.  Her  father  was  an  American 
by  birth,  but  just  before  the  Revolution  he  went  to 
England,  where  he  resided  until  after  the  independence 
of  the  Colonies  had  been  recognized.  Mrs.  Adams  was 
well  educated,  highly  accomplished,  and  well  quali- 


28  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

fied  to  preside  over  the  domestic  affairs  at  the  White 
House.  She  had  four  children — three  sons  and  one 
daughter — of  whom  one  only,  Mr.  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  survived  her.  It  is  related,  as  evidence  of  her 
good  sense,  that  on  one  occasion  Mrs.  Mason,  of  Analos- 
tan  Island,  called,  accompanied  by  two  or  three  other 
ladies  belonging  to  the  first  families  of  Virginia,  to 
enlist  Mrs.  Adams  in  behalf  of  her  son-in-law,  Lieu- 
tenant Cooper  (afterward  Adjutant-General  of  the  United 
States  Army,  and  subsequently  of  the  Confederate 
forces) ,  who  wanted  to  be  detailed  as  an  aide-de-camp  on 
the  staff  of  General  Macomb.  Mrs.  Adams  heard  their 
request  and  then  replied :  "  Truly,  ladies,  though  Mes- 
dames  Maintenon  and  Pompadour  are  said  to  have  con- 
trolled the  military  appointments  of  their  times,  I  do 
not  think  such  matters  appertain  to  women  ;  but  if  they 
did  and  I  had  any  influence  with  Mr.  Adams,  it  should 
be  given  to  Mrs.  Scott,  with  whom  I  became  acquainted 
while  traveling  last  summer." 

Mr.  Adams'  private  secretary  was  his  son,  John 
Adams,  who  soon  made  himself  very  obnoxious  to  the 
friends  of  General  Jackson.  One  evening  Mr.  Russell 
Jarvis,  who  then  edited  the  Washington  Telegraph,  a 
newspaper  which  advocated  Jackson's  election,  attended 
a  "  drawing  room  "  at  the  White  House,  escorting  his 
wife  and  a  party  of  visiting  relatives  from  Boston.  Mr. 
Jarvis  introduced  those  who  were  with  him  to  Mrs. 
Adams,  who  received  them  courteously,  and  they  then 
passed  on  into  the  East  Room.  Soon  afterward  they 
found  themselves  standing  opposite  to  Mr.  John  Adams, 
who  was  conversing  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stetson.  "  Who 
is  that  lady?"  asked  Mr.  Stetson.  "  That,"  replied 
Mr.  John  Adams,  in  a  tone  so  loud  that  the  party  heard 
it,  "  is  the  wife  of  one  Russell  Jarvis,  and  if  he  kne\v 


A  Scuffle  in  the  Rotunda.  29 

how  contemptibly  he  is  viewed  in  this  house  they  would 
not  be  here."  The  Bostonians  at  once  paid  their 
respects  to  Mrs.  Adams  and  withdrew,  Mr.  Jarvis  having 
first  ascertained  from  Mr.  Stetson  that  it  was  Mr.  John 
Adams  who  had  insulted  them.  A  few  days  afterward 
Mr.  Jarvis  sent  a  note  to  Mr.  John  Adams,  demanding 
an  explanation,  by  a  friend  of  his,  Mr.  McLean.  Mr. 
Adams  told  Mr.  McLean  that  he  had  no  apology  to 
make  to  Mr.  Jarvis,  and  that  he  wished  no  correspond- 
ence with  him. 

A  week  later  Mr.  John  Adams  went  to  the  Capitol  to 
deliver  messages  from  the  President  to  each  house  of 
Congress.  Having  delivered  that  addressed  to  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  he  was  going 
through  the  rotunda  toward  the  Senate  Chamber,  when 
he  was  overtaken  by  Mr.  Jarvis,  who  pulled  his  nose 
and  slapped  his  face.  A  scufHe  ensued,  but  they  were 
quickly  parted  by  Mr.  Dorsey,  a  Representative  from 
Maryland.  President  Adams  notified  Congress  in  a 
special  message  of  the  occurrence,  and  the  House 
appointed  a  select  committee  of  investigation.  Wit- 
nesses were  examined  and  elaborate  reports  were  drawn 
up,  but  neither  the  majority  nor  the  minority  recom- 
mended that  any  punishment  be  inflicted  upon  Mr. 
Jarvis. 

Mr.  John  Adams  was  married,  while  his  father 
occupied  the  White  House,  to  his  mother's  niece, 
Miss  Mary  Hellen,  of  Washington.  The  ceremony 
was  performed  by  Rev.  Dr.  Hawley,  of  St.  John's 
Church,  and  General  Ramsay,  who  was  one  of  the 
groomsmen,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  the 
President,  usually  so  grave  and  unsocial,  unbent  for 
the  nonce,  and  danced  at  the  wedding  ball  in  a  Vir- 
ginia reel  with  great  spirit. 


30  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

The  foreign  diplomats  were  recognized  as  leaders  in 
Washington  society,  and  one  of  the  Secretaries  of 
Legation  created  a  sensation  by  appearing  on  Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue  mounted  on  a  velocipede  imported  from 


THE  VELOCIPEDE  OF  1827. 


London.  Pennsylvania  Avenue  was  then  bordered 
with  scraggy  poplar  trees,  which  had  been  planted 
under  the  direction  of  President  Jefferson. 

Mr.  Adams  found  the  furniture  of  the  White  House 


Furniture  for  the  White  House.  3 l 

in  a  dilapidated  condition.  Thirty  thousand  dollars 
had  been  appropriated  by  Congress  for  the  purchase  of 
new  furniture  during  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Mon- 
roe; but  his  friend,  Colonel  Lane,  Commissioner  of 
Public  Buildings,  to  whom  he  had  intrusted  it,  became 
insolvent,  and  died  largely  in  debt  to  the  Government, 
having  used  the  money  for  the  payment  of  his  debts, 
instead  of  procuring  furniture.  When  an  appropria- 
tion of  fourteen  thousand  dollars  was  made,  to  be 
expended  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Adams,  for  furni- 
ture, he  took  charge  of  it  himself.  This  was  severely 
criticised  by  the  Democratic  press,  as  was  the  purchase 
of  a  billiard  table  for  the  White  House,  about  which 
so  much  was  said  that  Mr.  John  Adams  finally  paid 
the  bill  from  his  own  pocket. 

Mrs.  Adams  won  popularity  at  Washington  by  the 
graceful  manner  in  which  she  presided  over  the  hospi- 
talities of  the  White  House.  The  stiff  formality  of 
the  "  drawing-rooms "  of  Mrs.  Washington  and  Mrs. 
John  Adams,  and  the  free-and-easy  "  receptions "  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  daughters,  had  been  combined  by  Mrs. 
Madison  into  what  she  christened  "  levees,"  at  which 
all  ceremonious  etiquette  was  banished.  Mrs.  Monroe, 
who  had  mingled  in  the  fashionable  circles  of  London 
and  Paris,  as  well  as  of  her  native  city  of  New  York, 
had  continued  these  evening  "  levees,"  and  Mrs. 
Adams,  in  turn,  not  only  kept  up  the  custom,  but 
improved  the  quality  of  the  refreshments,  which  were 
handed  around  on  waiters  by  servants. 

Mr.  Adams  used  to  rise  between  four  and  six  o'clock, 
according  to  the  season,  and  either  take  a  ride  on  horse- 
back or  walk  to  the  Potomac  River,  where  he  bathed, 
remaining  in  the  water  for  an  hour  or  more  in  the 
summer.  Returning  to  the  White  House,  he  read  two 


32  Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

chapters  of  the  Bible  and  then  glanced  over  the  morn- 
ing papers  until  nine,  when  he  breakfasted.  From  ten 
until  four  he  remained  in  the  Executive  Office,  presid- 
ing over  Cabinet  meetings,  receiving  visitors,  or  con- 
sidering questions  of  state.  Then,  after  a  long  walk, 
or  a  short  ride  on  horseback,  he  would  sit  down  to  dine 
at  half-past  five,  and  after  dinner  resume  his  public 
duties. 

On  one  occasion  Mr.  Adams  imperiled  his  life  by 
attempting  to  cross  the  Potomac  in  a  small  boat,  ac- 
companied by  his  son  John  and  by  his  steward,  Michael 
Antoine  Ginsta,  who  had  entered  his  service  at  Amster- 
dam in  1814.  Intending  to  swim  back,  they  had  taken 
off  nearly  all  of  their  clothes,  which  were  in  the  boat. 
When  about  half-way  across,  a  gust  of  wind  came 
sweeping  down  the  Potomac,  the  boat  filled  with  water, 
and  they  were  forced  to  abandon  it  and  swim  for  their 
lives  to  the  Virginia  shore.  By  taking  what  garments 
each  one  had  on,  Antoine  managed  to  clothe  himself 
decently,  and  started  across  the  bridge  to  Washington. 
During  his  absence,  Mr.  Adams  and  his  son  swam  in 
the  river,  or  walked  to  and  fro  on  the  shore.  At  last, 
after  they  had  been  about  three  hours  undressed,  An- 
toine made  his  appearance  with  a  carriage  and  clothing, 
so  they  were  able  to  return  to  Washington.  Mr. 
Adams  purchased  that  day  a  watch,  which  he  gave 
Antoine  to  replace  one  which  he  had  lost  in  the  boat, 
and  alluded  to  the  adventure  in  his  journal  that  night 
as  "  a  humiliating  lesson  and  a  solemn  warning  not  to 
trifle  with  danger."  A  few  weeks  later  a  Revolution- 
ary veteran  named  Shoemaker,  went  in  to  bathe  at 
Mr.  Adams'  favorite  spot,  the  Sycamores,  was  seized 
with  cramp,  and  was  drowned.  The  body  was  not 
recovered  until  the  next  morning  while  Mr.  Adams 


Presidential  Gardening.  33 

was  in  the  water ;  but  the  incident  did  not  deter  him 
from  taking  his  solitary  morning  baths,  which  he 
regarded  as  indispensable  to  health.  Mr.  Adams  took 
great  interest  ill  arboriculture,  and  was  a  constant 
reader  of  Evelyn.  He  had  planted  in  the  grounds  of 
the  White  House  the  acorns  of  the  cork-oak,  black 
walnuts,  peach,  plum,  and  cherry  stones,  apple  and 
pear  seeds,  and  he  watched  their  germination  and 
growth  with  great  interest.  A  botanic  garden  was 
established  under  his  patronage,  and  naval  officers 
were  instructed .  to  bring  home  for  distribution  the 
seeds  of  such  grains  and  vegetables  as  it  might  seem 
desirable  to  naturalize.  The  seeds  thus  collected  were 
carefully  distributed  through  members  of  Congress, 
and  several  important  varieties  of  vegetables  were  thus 
introduced.  Down  to  the  present  day  the  yearly  distri- 
bution of  seeds  to  rural  constituents  is  an  important 
item,  of  Congressional  duty. 

Henry  Clay  was  the  premier  and  the  most  important 
member  of  Mr.  Adams'  cabinet.  He  evidently  regarded 
the  Department  of  State  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the 
Executive  Mansion,  and  hoped  that  he  would  be 
in  time  promoted,  as  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe, 
and  John  Quincy  Adams.  The  foreign  policy  of 
the  Administration,  which  encouraged  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Minister  to  represent  the  United  States 
in  the  Congress  of  American  Republics  at  Panama, 
although  in  accordance  with  the  "  Monroe  Doctrine," 
was  denounced  as  Federalism.  Mr.  Clay,  who  had 
never  been  a  Federalist,  did  not  wish  to  be  regarded 
as  a  restorer  of  the  old  Federal  party,  and  he  accord- 
ingly began  to  create  the  Whig  party,  of  which  he 
naturally  became  the  leader. 

Mr.  Clay  made  a  good  Secretary  of  State,  but  his 
3 


34 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


place  was  in  Congress,  for  he  was  formed  by  nature  for 
a  popular  orator.  He  was  tall  and  thin,  with  a  rather 
small  head,  and  gray  eyes,  which  peered  forth  less 
luminously  than  would  have  been  expected  in  one  pos- 
sessing such  eminent  control  of  language.  His  nose 
was  straight,  his  upper  lip  long,  and  his  under  jaw 


light.  His  mouth,  of  generous  width,  straight  when 
he  was  silent,  and  curving  upward  at  the  corners  as  he 
spoke  or  smiled,  was  singularly  graceful,  indicating 
more  than  any  other  feature  the  elastic  play  of  his 
mind.  When  he  enchained  large  audiences,  his  fea- 
tures were  lighted  up  by  a  winning  smile,  the  gestures 
of  his  long  arms  were  graceful,  and  the  gentle  accents 


A  Man  of  the  People. 


35 


of  his  mellow  voice  were  persuasive  and  winning.  Yet 
there  has  never  been,  a  more  imperious  despot  in  politi- 
cal affairs  than  Mr.  Clay.  He  regarded  himself  as  the 
head-centre  of  his  party — Uetat,  c'est  moi — and  he 
wanted  everything  utilized  for  his  advancement. 

General    Jackson    was    meanwhile    being    brought 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

before  the  public,  under  the  direction  of  Aaron  Burr, 
Martin  Van  Buren,  and  Edward  Livingston,  as  a  "  man 
of  the  people."  They  had  persuaded  him  to  resign 
his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  where  he 
might  have  made  political  mistakes,  and  retire  to  his 
farm  in  Tennessee,  while  they  flooded  the  country 
with  accounts  of  his  military  exploits  and  his  social 


36  Per  ley 's  Reminiscences. 

good  qualities.  Daniel  Webster  told  Samuel  Breck, 
as  the  latter  records  in  his  diary,  that  he  knew  more 
than  fifty  members  of  Congress  who  had  expended  and 
pledged  all  they  were  worth  in  setting  up  presses  and 
employing  other  means  to  forward  Jackson's  election. 
John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  two  of  the  three 
survivors  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, passed  hence  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1826, 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  their  signing  the  Magna 
Charta  of  our  Republic.  Their  names  had  been  insep- 
arably connected  in  the  minds  and  upon  the  lips  of  the 
people,  as  their  labors  were  united  in  bringing  about  the 
events  of  the  Revolution  and  its  final  triumph.  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  the  writer,  Mr.  Adams  the  orator,  of  the 
Congress  of  '76.  The  one  penned  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, the  other  was  pronounced  "  the  pillar  of  its 
support  and  its  ablest  advocate  and  defender."  Mr. 
Jefferson  called  Mr.  Adams  "  the  Colossus  of  the  Con- 
gress," the  most  earnest,  laborious  member  of  the  body, 
and  its  animating  spirit.  For  the  loss  of  these  men, 
though  they  fell  as  a  ripe  shock  of  corn  falleth — both 
having  arrived  at  an  advanced  age — Mr.  Adams  over 
ninety — the  whole  nation  clothed  itself  in  mourning. 


ANDREW  JACKSON,  born  in  North  Car,lma,  March  1510,  1767;  Representative  in  Congress  and 
Senator  from  Tennessee;  Judge  of  thebUte  Supreme  Cuurt  of  Tennessee;  Major-General;  Gover- 
nor of  Florida;  President  ot  the  United  States,  1829-1837;  died  near  Nashville,  Tennessee,  January 
8th,  1845. 


CHAPTER  II. 

TRAVELING   IN   "  YE  OLDEN    TIME." 

TRAVEL  BY  STAGE  AND  STEAMBOAT — BOSTON  TO  PROVIDENCE — THE 
OLD  TOWN  OP  PROVIDENCE— THE  LONG  ISLAND  SOUND  STEAMERS 
— NEW  YORK  CITY — NEW  YORK  TO  PHILADELPHIA — PHILADELPHIA 
TO  WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON  HOTEL  LIFE — EXPENSES  OF  LIV- 
ING— THE  METROPOLIS  OF  THE  UNION — THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL — 
WORKS  OF  ART — THE  ROTUNDA — FREE-MASONRY — THE  MORGAN 

.     EXCITEMENT — THEATRICAL — DIVISION   OF  THE   FRIENDS'   SOCIETY. 

THE  old  stage  route  between   Boston  and  New 
York,  before  John  Quincy  Adams  was  Presi- 
dent, passed   through  Worcester,  Springfield, 
Hartford,  and  Norwalk.     Passengers  paid  ten   dollars 
for  a  seat  and  were  fifty-six  hours  or  more  on  the  road. 
This  gave  way  about   1825  to  the  steamboat  line  via 
Providence,  which  for  five  dollars  carried   passengers 
from  Boston  to  New  York  in  twenty-four  hours. 

Stage  books  for  the  Providence  line  were  kept  in 
Boston  at  offices  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  where 
those  wishing  to  go  the  next  day  registered  their  names. 
These  names  were  collected  and  brought  to  the  central 
stage  office  in  the  Marlboro  Hotel  at  ten  o'clock  each 
night,  where  they  were  arranged  into  stage-loads,  each 
made  up  from  those  residing  in  the  same  part  of  the 
city.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  a  man  started 
from  the  stage  office  in  a  chaise  to  go  about  and  wake 
up  the  passengers,  that  the  stage  need  not  be  kept 

37 


Per  ley's   Reminiscences. 


waiting.     The  large  brass   door  knockers  were  vigoi 
ously   plied,    and    sometimes    quite    a   commotion  was 
caused  by  "  waking  up  the  wrong  passenger." 

In  due  time  the  stage  made  its  appearance,  with  its  four 
spirited  horses,  and  the  baggage  was  put  on.     Trunks, 


ARRIVAL  AT  DEDHAM. 


which  were  diminutive 

in  size  compared  with 

those  now  used,  were 

put  on  the  rack  behind, 

securely  strapped ;  valises  and  packages  were  consigned  to 

the  depths  of  a  receptacle  beneath  the  driver's  seat,  and 

bandboxes  were  put  on  the  top.     The  back  seat  was 

generally  given  to  ladies  and  elderly  gentlemen,  while 

young  men  usually  sought  a  seat  on  top  of  the  stage 

by  the  side  of  the  driver.     When  the  passengers  had 


Old  Time   Traveling.  39 

been  "  picked  up,"  the  stages  returned  to  the  stage 
office,  where  the  way-bills  were  perfected  and  handed  to 
the  drivers.  As  the  Old  South  clock  was  striking  five, 
whips  were  cracked,  and  the  coaches  started  at  the 
rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  stopping  for  breakfast  at 
Timothy  Gay's  tavern  in  Dedham,  where  many  of  the 
passengers  visited,  the  bar  to  imbibe  Holland  gin  and 
sugar-house  molasses — a  popular  morning  beverage. 

Breakfast  over,  away  the  stages  went  over  the  good 
turnpike  road  at  a  rapid  pace.  Those  who  were  fellow 
passengers,  even  if  strangers  to  one  another,  gradually 
entered  into  conversation,  and  generally  some  one  of 
them  was  able  to  impart  information  concerning  the  route. 
Occasionally  the  stage  would  rattle  into  a  village, 
the  driver  giving  warning  blasts  upon  his  long  tin  horn 
that  he  claimed  the  right  of  way,  and  then  dash  up  to 
a  wayside  inn,  before  which  would  be  in  waiting  a  fresh 
team  of  horses  to  take  the  place  of  those  which  had 
drawn  the  coach  from  the  previous  stopping-place. 
Time  was  always  afforded  those  passengers  who  desired 
to  partake  of  libations  at  the  tavern  bar,  and  old  trav 
elers  used  to  see  that  their  luggage  was  safe. 

Providence  was  in  due  time  reached,  and  the  proces- 
sion of  stages  whirled  along  the  narrow  street  beneath 
the  bluff,  swaying  heavily  with  the  irregularities  of  the 
road.  The  steamboats  lay  at  India  Point,  just  below 
the  town,  where  immense  quantities  of  wood  were  piled 
up,  for  each  boat  consumed  between  thirty  and  forty 
cords  on  a  trip  through  Long  Island  Sound. 

The  stages  used  to  reach  India  Point  about  half-past 
eleven  o'clock,  and  the  boat  would  start  for  New  York 
precisely  at  twelve.  There  were  no  state-rooms,  the 
passengers  occupying  berths,  and  at  the  dinner  and 
supper  the  captain  of  the  boat  occupied  the  head  of  the 


40  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

table,  having  seated  near  him  any  distinguished  pas- 
sengers. Occasionally  there  was  an  opposition  line 
with  sharp  rivalries,  and  at  one  time  a  then  rising  New 
Yorker,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  carried  passengers  from 
New  York  to  Boston  for  one  dollar. 

On  arriving  at  New  York,  the  passengers  had  to  look 
out  for  their  luggage,  and  either  engage  hacks  or  hand- 
cartmen,  who  for  twenty-five  cents  would  carry  a  trunk 
to  any  part  of  the  city.  The  city  then,  be  it  remem- 
bered, did  not  reach  up  Manhattan  Island  above  the 
vicinity  of  Broome  or  Spring  Streets,  although  there 
were  beyond  that  the  villages  of  Greenwich,  Blooming- 
dale,  Yorkville,  and  Harlem.  The  City  Hotel,  on 
Broadway,  just  above  Trinity  Churchyard,  Bunker's 
Hotel,  lower  down,  and  the  Washington  Hotel,  which 
occupied  the  site  of  the  Stewart  building  above  the 
Park,  were  the  principal  public  houses.  The  Boston 
stages  stopped  at  Hall's  North  American  Hotel,  at  the 
corner  of  Bayard  Street  and  the  Bowery,  and  there 
were  many  boarding-houses  where  transient  guests 
were  accommodated. 

From  New  York,  travelers  southward  went  by  steam- 
boat to  Elizabethport,  where  they  were  transferred  to 
stages,  and  crossed  New  Jersey  to  Bordentown  on  the 
Delaware  River,  where  a  steamer  was  in  waiting  to 
transport  them  to  Philadelphia.  This  was  a  long  and 
fatiguing  day's  journey,  and  a  majority  of  travelers 
remained  over  a  day  in  Philadelphia,  where  the  hotels 
were  excellent  and  there  were  many  objects  of  attrac- 
tion. 

Leaving  Philadelphia  in  a  steamboat,  passengers 
went  down  the  Delaware  to  New  Castle,  whence  they 
crossed  in  stages  to  Frenchtown  on  the  Elk  River,  and 
there  re-embarked  on,  steamers,  which  took  them  down 


Perilous  Places.  41 

and  around  to  Baltimore,  another  long  and  fatiguing 
day's  trip.  At  each  change  from  boat  to  stage,  or  from 
stage  to  boat,  passengers  had  to  see  that  their  baggage 
was  transferred,  and  it  was  generally  necessary  to  give 
a  quarter  to  the  porter.  Baggage  checks  and  the 
checking  of  baggage  were  then  unknown. 

Between  Baltimore  and  Washington  there  were  oppo- 

%  sition  lines  of  stages  and  a  good  turnpike  road.    There 

had  been,  when  I  first  went  over  the  road,  some  daring 


DOWN  THE   DELAWARE 


robberies  by  "  road  agents,"  and  the  mail  coaches  were 
protected  by  a  guard,  who  occupied  a  perch  on  the  roof 
over  the  boot  and  was  armed  with  a  blunderbuss.  This 
weapon  had  a  funnel-shaped  barrel,  a  flint  lock,  took 
about  a  half  a  pint  of  buckshot  for  a  charge,  and  was 
capable  of  destroying  a  whole  band  of  robbers  at  once. 
In  due  time  the  flat,  wide  dome  of  the  old  Capitol, 
which  resembled  an  inverted  wash-bowl,  was  visible, 
and  the  stage  was  soon  floundering  through  the  broad 
expanse  of  mud  or  of  dust  known  as  Pennsylvania 


42  Per 'ley }s  Reminiscences. 

Avenue,  taking  passengers  to  the  doors  of  the  hotels  or 
boarding-houses  which  they  had  previously  indicated. 

When  Congress  first  met  at  Washington  there  was 
but  one  hotel  there  and  one  in  Georgetown.  Others 
were,  however,  soon  erected,  and  fifty-eight  years  ago 
there  were  half  a  dozen.  The  favorite  establishment  was 
the  Indian  Queen  Hotel,  which  occupied  the  site  of  the 


TO  BALTIMORE  BY  STEAMBOAT. 


present  Metropolitan  Hotel  and  was  designated  by  a 
large  swinging  sign  upon  which  figured  Pocahontas, 
painted  in  glaring  colors.  The  landlord,  Jesse  Brown, 
who  used  to  come  to  the  curbstone  to  "  welcome  the 
coming  guests,"  was  a  native  of  Havre-de-Grace  and 
had  served  his  apprenticeship  to  tavern-keeping  at 
Hagerstown  and  in  Alexandria.  A  glance  at  the  trav- 
elers as  they  alighted  and  were  ushered  by  him  into 


Jesse  Broivrfs  Hospitality.  43 

the  house  would  enable  him  mentally  to  assign  each 
one  to  a  room,  the  advantages  of  which  he  would 
describe  ere  sending  its  destined  occupant  there  under 
the  pilotage  of  a  colored  servant.  When  the  next 
meal  was  ready  the  newly  arrived  guest  was  met  at  the 
door  of  the  dining-room  by  Mr.  Brown,  wearing  a  large 
white  apron,  who  escorted  him  to  a  seat  and  then  went 
to  the  head  of  the  table,  where  he  carved  and  helped 
the  principal  dish.  -The  excellences  of  this — fish  or 
flesh  or  fowl — he  would  announce  as  he  would  invite 
those  seated  at  the  table  to  send  up  their  plates  for 
what  he  knew  to  be  their  favorite  portions  ;  and  he 
would  also  invite  attention  to  the  dishes  on  other,  parts 
of  the  table,  which  were  carved  and  helped  by  the 
guests  who  sat  nearest  them.  "  I  have  a  delicious 
quarter  of  mutton  from  the  Valley  of  Virginia,"  Mr. 
Brown  would  announce  in  a  stentorian  tone,  which 
could  be  heard  above  the  clatter  of  crockery  and  the 
din  of  steel  knives  and  forks.  "Let  me  send  you  a 
rare  slice,  Mr.  A."  "  Colonel  B.,  will  you  not  have  a 
bone?"  "Mrs.  C.,  send  up  your  plate  for  a  piece  of 
the  kidney."  "  Mrs.  D.,  there  is  a  fat  and  tender 
mongrel  goose  at  the  other  end  of  the  table."  "Joe, 
pass  around  the  sweet  potatoes."  "  Colonel  E.,  will 
you  help  to  that  chicken-pie  before  you  ?" 

The  expense  of  living  at  the  Indian  Queen  was  not 
great.  The  price  of  board  was  one  dollar  and  seventy- 
five  cents  per  day,  ten  dollars  per  week,  or  thirty-five 
dollars  per  month.  Transient  guests  were  charged 
fifty  cents  for  breakfast,  the  same  for  supper,  and 
seventy-five  cents  for  dinner.  Brandy  and  whisky 
were  placed  on  the  dinner-table  in  decanters,  to  be 
drunk  by  the  guests  without  additional  charge  therefor. 
A  bottle  of  real  old  Madeira  imported  into  Alexandria 


44  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

was  supplied  for  three  dollars ;  sherry,  brandy,  and  gin 
were  one  dollar  and  a  half  per  bottle,  and  Jamaica  rum 
one  dollar.  At  the  bar  toddies  were  made  with  unadul- 
terated liquor  and  lump  sugar,  and  the  charge  was 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  a  drink. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  the  2 ad  of  February,  and 
other  holidays,  landlord  Brown  would  concoct  foaming 
egg-nogg  in  a  mammoth  punch-bowl  once  owned  by 
Washington,  and  the  guests  of  the  house  were  all 
invited  to  partake.  The  tavern-desk  was  behind  the 
bar,  with  rows  of  large  bells  hanging  by  circular 
springs  on  the  wall,  each  with  a  bullet-shaped  tongue, 
which  continued  to  vibrate  for  some  minutes  after  being 
pulled,  thus  showing  to  which  room  it  belonged.  The 
barkeeper  prepared  the  '"  drinks  "  called  for,  saw  that 
the  bells  were  answered,  received  and  delivered  letters 
and  cards,  and  answered  questions  by  the  score.  He 
was  supposed  to  know  everybody  in  Washington,  where 
they  resided,  and  at  what  hour  they  could  be  seen. 

The  city  of  Washington  had  then  been  called  by  an 
observing  foreigner  "  the  city  of  magnificent  distances," 
an  appellation  which  was  well  merited.  There  was  a 
group  of  small,  shabby  houses  around  the  Navy  Yard, 
another  cluster  on  the  river  bank  just  above  the 
Arsenal,  which  was  to  have  been  the  business  centre  of 
the  metropolis,  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  from  the 
Capitol  to  Georgetown,  with  the  streets  immediately 
adjacent,  was  lined  with  tenements — many  of  them 
with  shops  on  the  ground  floor.  The  Executive  De- 
partments were  located  in  four  brick  edifices  on  the 
corners  of  the  square,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  the 
White  House.  The  imposing  building  now  occupied 
by  the  Department  of  the  Interior  had  not  been  begun, 
nor  had  the  General  Post-Office  replaced  a  large  brick 


Completion  of  the  Old  Capitol. 


45 


structure  intended  for  a  hotel,  but  which  the  pecuniary 
necessities  of  the  projector  forced  him  to  dispose  of  in 
a  lottery  before  it  was  completed.  The  fortunate  ticket 
was  held  by  minors,  whose  guardian  could  neither  sell 
the  building  nor  finish  it,  and  it  remained  for  many 
years  in  a  dilapidated  condition. 

The  Capitol  was  pronounced  completed  in  1825.  The 
two  wings,  which  were  the  only  portions  of  the  build- 
ing finished  when  the  British  occupied  Washington, 
were  burned,  with  their  contents,  including  the  Con- 
gressional Library  and  some  works  of  art.  When 


EAST  FRONT  OF  THE  CAPITOL 


Congress  was  convened  in  special  session  after  the 
invasion,  the  two  Houses  assembled  in  the  unfinished 
hotel  previously  mentioned,  but  soon  occupied  a  brick 
building  erected  for  their  temporary  use,  which  was 
afterward  known  as  the  Old  Capitol  Prison. 

The  tympanum  of  the  eastern  pediment  of  the  Capi- 
tol was  ornamented  by  a  historical  group  which  Mr. 
John  Quincy  Adams  designed  when  Secretary  of  State. 
It  was  executed  in  marble  by  L/uigi  Persico,  an  Italian 
sculptor,  whose  work  gave  such  satisfaction  to  Mr. 
Adams  that  he  secured  for  him  an  order  for  the  two 
colossal  statues  which  now  flank  the  central  doorway. 


46  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

War  is  represented  by  a  stalwart  gymnast  with  a  pro- 
fuse development  of  muscle  and  a  benign  expression 
of  countenance,  partially  encased  in  ancient  Roman 
armor,  while  Peace  is  a  matronly  dame,  somewhat  ad- 
vanced in  life  and  heavy  in  flesh,  who  carries  an  olive- 
branch  as  if  she  desired  to  use  it  to  keep  off  flies. 

The  then  recently  completed  rotunda  of  the  Capitol — 
Mr.  Gales  took  pains  to  have  it  called  rotundo  in  the 
National  Intelligencer — was  a  hall  of  elegant  propor- 
tions, ninety-six  feet  in  diameter  and  ninety-six 
feet  in  height  to  the  apex  of  its  semicircular 
dome.  It  had  been  decorated  with  remarkable 
historical  bas-reliefs  by  Cappellano,  Gevelot,  and  Caus- 
ici,  three  Italian  artists — two  of  them  pupils  of  Canova. 
They  undoubtedly  possessed  artistic  ability  and  they 
doubtless  desired  to  produce  works  of  historical  value. 
But  they  failed  ignominiously.  Their  respective  pro- 
ductions were  thus  interpreted  by  Grizzly  Bear,  a  Men- 
ominee  chief.  Turning  to  the  eastern  doorway,  over 
which  there  is  represented  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims, 
he  said  :  "  There  Ingen  give  hungry  white  man  corn." 
Then  turning  to  the  northern  doorway,  over  which  is 
represented  William  Penn  making  a  treaty  with  the 
Indians,  he  said  :  "  There  Ingen  give  white  man  land." 
Then  turning  to  the  western  doorway,  over  which  is 
represented  Pocahontas  saving  the  life  of  Captain 
Smith,  he  said  :  "  There  Ingen  save  white  man's  life." 
And  then  turning  to  the  Southern  doorway,  over 
which  is  represented  Daniel  Boone,  the  pioneer,  plung- 
ing his  hunting-knife  into  the  heart  of  a  red  man 
while  his  foot  rests  on  the  dead  body  of  another,  he 
said  :  "  And  there  white  man  kill  Ingen.  Ugh  !" 

When  Congress  was  in  session,  the  rotunda  pre- 
sented a  busy  and  motley  scene  every  morning  prior  to 


Free-Masonry  in  Washington.  47 

the  convening  of  the  two  houses.  It  was  a  general 
rendezvous,  and  the  newspaper  correspondents  were 
always  in  attendance  to  pick  up  the  floating  rumors  of 
the  day  from  their  friendly  men  among  the  members  of 
either  house.  Lobbyists  also  congregated  there  to 
combine  or  disperse  forces  and  to  button-hole  their 
men.  Every  man  with  a  bill  on  hand  was  early  on  the 
scene  to  catch  a  word  with  those  likely  to  favor  or 
oppose  his  schemes,  and,  if  possible,  to  pick  up  some 
convert  to  his  side.  The  nation's  great  men  mingled 
there  with  the  plebeians,  and  the  rich  and  the  poor  met 
together  in  fulfillment  of  ancient  prophecy.  Sight- 
seers, too,  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  were  always 
numerous  at  this  great  centre. 

The  visit  of  General  Lafayette  to  Washington  gave 
a  great  impetus  to  Free-Masonry  there.  The  corner- 
stone of  a  new  Masonic  Temple  was  laid,  and  many  of 
the  leading  citizens  had  taken  the  degrees,  when  the 
rumored  abduction  of  William  Morgan  was  made  the 
basis  of  a  political  and  religious  anti-Masonic  crusade. 
It  was  asserted  that  Morgan,  who  had  written  and 
printed  a  book  which  professed  to  reveal  the  secrets  of 
Free-Masonry,  had  been  kidnapped,  taken  to  Fort 
Niagara,  and  then  plunged  into  the  river,  "  with  all  his 
imperfections  on  his  head.". 

Many  well-informed  persons,  however,  are  decidedly 
of  the  opinion  that  Morgan  was  hired  to  go  to  Smyrna, 
where  he  lived  some  years,  and  then  died  ;  but  his 
real  or  supposed  assassination  awakened  a  profound 
popular  indignation.  Some  good  men  who  belonged 
to  the  "  mystic  tie "  felt  it  their  duty  to  dissolve 
their  connection  with  it,  and  the  anti-Masonic  party 
was  at  once  got  up  by  a  goodly  number  of  hopeful 
political  aspirants.  As  General  Jackson  and  Mr.  Clay 


48  Perlejfs  Reminiscences. 

were  both.  "  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,"  Mr.  Adams 
had  at  first  some  hopes  that  he  might  secure  his  own 
re-election  as  the  Anti-Masonic  candidate. 

A  small  theatre  at  Washington  was  occasionally 
opened  by  a  company  of  actors  from  Philadelphia,  who 
used  to  journey  every  winter  as  far  south  as  Savannah, 
performing  in  the  intermediate  cities  as  they  went  and 
returned.  The  Jeffersons,  the  Warrens,  and  the 
Burkes  belonged  to  this  company,  in  which  their  chil- 
dren were  trained  for  histrionic  fame,  and  President 
Adams  first  saw  the  elder  Booth  when  that  tragedian 
accompanied  one  of  these  dramatic  expeditions  as  its 
brightest  star.  On  another  occasion  he  saw  Edwin 
Forrest,  then  unknown  to  fame,  and  enjoyed  the  finished 
acting  of  Cooper,  as  Charles  Surface,  in  the  "School  for 
Scandal."  The  popular  performance  at  that  time  was 
'•  Tom  and  Jerry,  or  Life  in  London,"  and  the  flash 
sayings  of  Corinthian  Tom  and  Bob  Logic  were  quoted 
even  in  Congressional  debates. 

The  Friends,  or  Quakers,  as  "  the  world's  people  " 
call  them,  had  a  society  at  Washington  formed  princi- 
pally by  the  clerks  of  that  persuasion  who  had  come 
from  Philadelphia  when  the  seat  of  government  was 
removed  from  there.  Their  harmony  was,  however, 
disturbed  in  1827,  wnen  a  number  of  the  most  influen- 
tial among  them  left  the  "  Orthodox  "  or  old  belief  and 
followed  BHas  Hicks,  of  New  York,  who  founded  what 
has  since  been  known  as  Hicksite  Friends.  The 
Friends  believed  in  a  free  gospel  ministry,  and  did  not 
recognize  either  water-baptism  or  the  ordinance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  .  At  their  meetings  the  elders  and 
preachers  occupied  a  platform  at  one  end  of  the  meet- 
ing-houses, the  men  sitting  on  unpainted  benches  on 
one  side  and  the  women  on  the  other.  The  con- 


Old  Time  Quakers.  49 

gregation  would  sit  quietly,  often  for  an  hour,  until  the 
Spirit  moved  some  preacher,  male  or  female,  to  speak 
or  to  offer  prayer.  There  was  no  singing,  and  often 
long  intervals  of  silence.  Marriages  were  solemnized 
at  the  monthly  meetings,  the  ceremony  consisting 
simply  of  a  public  acknowledgment  by  the  man  and 
woman,  after  due  inquiry  of  their  right  to  be  united. 
After  they  had  stood  up  in  meeting  and  publicly  taken 
one  another  to  be  man  and  wife,  a  certificate  of  the 
ceremony  was  publicly  read  by  one  of  the  elders,  and 
then  signed  by  the  contracting  parties  and  witnesses. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS— son  of  John  Adams — was  born  at  Braintree,  Massachusetts,  July  nth, 
1767;  Minister  to  the  Netherlands  and  Prussia,  1794-1801;  United  States  Senator,  1803-1808;  Pro- 
fessorat  Harvard  College,  1808-1809;  Minister  to  Russia,  1809-1817;  negotiating  the  treaty  of  Ghent 
in  1815;  Secretary  of  State,  1817-1825;  President,  1825-1829  ;  Representative  in  Congress,  1831,  untU 
stricken  by  death  in  the  Capitol,  February  2jd,  1848. 


CHAPTER  III. 

JOURNALISM   IN    1828. 

OLD  Gf-ORGETOWN — THE  UNION  TAVERN — A  NATAL  AFRICAN  SALUTE — 
PRESIDENT  GEORGE  WASHINGTON — MAJOR  L'ENFANT — NEWSPAPER 
ORGANS — THE  NATIONAL  INTELLIGENCER— THE  NATIONAL  JOURNAL 
— MATTHEW  L.  DAVIS — JAMES  GORDON  BENNETT — MORDECAI  M.  NOAH 
— OTHER  WASHINGTON  CORRESPONDENTS — A  NOTABLE  BRITON — GAM- 
BLING HOUSES — SENATORIAL  CARD-PLAYING — SOCIAL  GAMES  OF  WHIST. 

GEORGETOWN,  now  called  "  West .  Washing- 
ton," was  originally  laid  out  as  a  town  in 
1751,  and  settled  by  the  Scotch  agents  of  En- 
glish mercantile  houses,  whose  vessels  came  annually 
to  its  wharves.  They  brought  valuable  freights  of 
hardware,  dry  goods,  and  wines,  and  they  carried  back 
tobacco,  raised  in  the  surrounding  country,  and  furs, 
brought  down  the  Potomac  by  Indian  traders.  There 
were  also  lines  of  brigs  and  schooners  running  to  New 
York,  Boston,  Salem,  Newburyport,  and  the  West 
Indies.  Two  principal  articles  of  import  were  sugar 
and  molasses,  which  were  sold  at  auction  on  the  wharves. 
Business  in  these  staples  has  been  entirely  superseded 
by  the  coal  and  flour  trade. 

The  main  street  of  Georgetown  was  generally  filled 
every  week-day  with  the  lumbering  Conestoga  six-horse 
wagons,  in  which  the  farmers  of  Maryland  and  Central 
Pennsylvania  brought  loads  of  wheat  and  of  corn, 
taking  back  dry  goods,  groceries,  salt,  and,  during  the 
fishing  season,  fresh  shad  and  herring.  Another  source 

5° 


Navigating  the  Potomac.  51 

of  trade  was  the  Potomac  River,  which  was  navigable 
above  Georgetown  as  far  as  Cumberland  in  long,  flat- 
bottomed  boats,  sharp  at  both  ends,  called  "  gondolas." 
These  boats  were  poled  down  the  Potomac  to  the  Great 
Falls,  twelve  miles  above  Georgetown,  where  a  canal 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


with  locks  was  constructed,  running  around  the  falls 
and  back  to  the  river.  The  same  plan  of  avoiding  the 
rapids  was  suggested  by  George  Washington,  who  was 
once  president  of  the  company.  The  canal  was  finished 
in  1793,  but  it  never  yielded  a  sufficient  revenue  to 
pay  expenses. 


LIBRARY 


52  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

The  "  gondolas  "  brought  down  considerable  quanti- 
ties of  flour,  corn,  pork,  and  iron,  much  of  which  was 
shipped  at  Georgetown  to  other  ports.  During  the 
year  1812  several  hundred  hogsheads  cf  Louisiana 
sugar  were  brought  by  the  way  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
Ohio,  and  the  Potomac  Rivers,  to  Georgetown.  This 
was  a  realization  of  Washington's  idea  that  the  city 
which  he  founded  and  which  bore  his  name  would 
become  an  entrepot  for  the  products  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  destined  for  shipment  abroad.  He  displayed  his 
faith  in  this  belief  by  the  purchase  of  wharf  lots,  which 
would  not  to-day  bring  what  he  paid  for  them. 

The  Union  Tavern  at  Georgetown  was  a  well-patron- 
ized and  fashionable  inn  during  the  first  quarter  of  the 
present  century.  Among  the  distinguished  men  who 
were  its  guests  were  Louis  Philippe,  Count  Volney, 
Baron  Humboldt,  Fulton  (the  inventor),  Talleyrand, 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  Washington  Irving,  General  St. 
Clair,  Lorenzo  Dow  (the  eccentric  preacher),  Francis  S. 
Key  (author  of  the  u  Star  Spangled  Banner"),  with 
John  Randolph  and  scores  of  other  Congressmen,  who 
used  to  ride  to  and  from  the  Capitol  in  a  large  stage- 
coach with  seats  on  the  top  and  called  the  **  Royal 
George." 

When  my  mother  was  born  at  Georgetown,  in  1799, 
the  neighbors  were  startled  by  the  repeated  firing  of  a 
heavily  charged  musket  beneath  the  window  of  her 
mother's  room.  It  was  a  welcome-into-the-world  salute 
£red  by  "  Old  Yarrah,"  a  very  aged  Mahometan,  who 
had  been  brought  as  a  slave  from  Guinea  to  George- 
town, where  my  grandfather  had  shown  him  some 
kindness,  which  he  thus  acknowledged  after  the  custom 
of  his  own  people. 

General  Washington  used  to  pass  through  George- 


David  Burns'  Donations.  '53 

town  on  his  journeys  between  the  North  and  Mount 
Vernon,  and  I  have  heard  my  grandfather  describe  the 
interest  which  he  took  when  the  "  Federal  City  "  was 
located.  On  one  occasion  he  rode  over  to  visit  David 
Burns,  who  owned  a  farm,  on  which  the  Executive 
Mansion  and  the  Departments  now  stand.  Washing- 


DAVID   BURNS'   HOME. 


ton  agreed  with  the  Commissioners  that  what  is  now 
Lafayette  Square  should  be  a  reservation,  but  Burns 
disliked  to  donate  any  more  building  lots  for  the  public 
good.  Finally  Washington  lost  his  temper  and  left, 
saying,  as  he  crossed  the  porch :  "  Had  not  the  Federal 
City  been  laid  out  here,  you  would  have  died  a  poor 


54  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

tobacco  planter."  "Aye,  mon!"  retorted  Burns,  in 
broad  Scotch,  "  an'  had  ye  nae  married  the  widow 
Custis,  wi'  a'  her  nagurs,  you  would  hae  been  a  land 
surveyor  to-day,  an'  a  mighty  poor  ane  at  that."  Ulti- 
mately, however,  the  obstinate  old  fellow  donated  the 
desired  square  of  ground. 

When  Major  I/ Enfant  came  to  Georgetown  to  lay 
out  the  Federal  District  he  brought  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion to  my  grandfather,  who  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
in  endeavoring  to  adjust  the  difficulties  between  the 
fiery  French  officer  and  the  Commissioners  appointed 
to  govern  the  infant  metropolis.  The  Major,  who  was 
very  imperious,  claimed  supreme  authority,  which  the 
Commissioners  would  not  submit  to.  On  one  occasion 
a  Mr.  Carroll  had  commenced  the  erection  of  a  large 
brick  house,  which  Major  L'Bnfant  found  encroached 
on  one  of  the  proposed  streets.  Summoning  his  chain 
bearers  and  axmen,  he  demolished  the  trespassing 
structure  and  filled  up  the  cellar,  against  Mr.  Carroll's 
earnest  protests. 

He  was  a  favorite  with  Washington,  but  Jefferson 
disliked  him  on  account  of  his  connection  with  the 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  availed  himself  of  his 
difficulty  with  the  Commissioners  to  discharge  him. 

The  Major  then  became  an  unsuccessful  petitioner 
before  Congress  for  a  redress  of  his  real  and  fancied 
wrongs,  and  he  was  to  be  seen  almost  every  day  slowly 
pacing  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol.  He  was  a  tall,  thin 
man,  who  wore,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  a  blue 
military  surtout  coat,  buttoned  quite  to  the  throat,  with 
a  tall,  black  stock,  but  no  visible  signs  of  linen.  His 
hair  was  plastered  with  pomatum  close  to  his  head,  and 
he  wore  a  napless  high  beaver  bell-crowned  hat.  Un- 
der his  arm  he  generally  carried  a  roll  of  papers  rela- 


Newspaper  Organs. 


55 


ting  to  his  claim  upon  the  Government,  and  in  his 
right  hand  he  swung  a  formidable  hickory  cane  with 
a  large  silver  head.  A  strict  Roman  Catholic,  he  re- 
ceived a  home  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Digges,  near  Wash- 
ington, in  whose  garden  his  remains  were  interred 
when  he  died. 

Newspaper  "  organs  "  formed  an  important  feature 
of  the  early  political  machinery  at  Washington.  Rail- 
roads, as  well  as  the 
magnetic  telegraph, 
were  then  unknown, 
and  it  took  two  days 
or  more  for  the  trans- 
mission of  intelligence 
between  the  Federal 
Metropolis  and  New 
York,  while  it  was  a 
week  or  two  in  reach- 
ing Portland,St.  Louis, 
New  Orleans,  or  Sa- 
vannah. This  made 
it  advisable  for  each 
successive  Adminis- 
tration to  have  a  news- 
paper published  at 
Washington  which  would  reliably  inform  the  subordi- 
nate officials  what  was  being  done  and  keep  alive  a 
sympathy  between  them  and  the  President. 

The  National  Intelligencer  was  never  devoted  to  Mr. 
Adams,  as  its  proprietor  had  a.  kind  regard  for  Mr. 
Clay,  but  it  was  always  hostile  to  the  election  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson.  Mr.  Joseph  Gales,  its  editor,  wrote  pon- 
derous leaders  on  the  political  questions  of  the  day, 
and  occasionally  reported,  in  short-hand,  the  speeches 


JOSEPH  GALES. 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


of  Congressional  magnates.  His  partner,  Colonel 
William  Winstead  Seaton,  was  by  trade  a  printer,  and 
his  generous  hand  was  ever  ready  to  aid  those  of  his 
fellow-craftsmen  who  were  in  destitute  circumstances — 
indeed,  the  superannuated  compositors  of  the  National 
Intelligencer  always  received  "half  pay."  Coming  here 
when  Washington  was  only  just  "  staked  out,"  he  was 
honorably  identified  with  the  growth  of  Washington 
City,  and  his  administration  as  Mayor  is  favorably 
spoken  of  by  the  citizens  of  all  classes  and  parties. 

The  National  Jour- 
nal had  been  estab- 
lished as  a  Calhoun 
organ,  with  John  Agg, 
an  Englishman  of 
great  ability,  as  its 
editor,  and  Richard 
Houghton,  aftenvard 
the  popular  editor  of 
the  Boston  Atlas,  as 
its  Congressional  re- 
porter. In  1825  tne 
paper  was  purchased 
by  Peter  Force  and 
became  the  "  hand- 


COLONEL  W.  W.  SEATON. 


organ  "  of  all  the  ele- 


ments of  opposition  to 
General  Jackson.  Such  abusive  articles  and  scurrilous 
remarks  as  the  dignified  National  Intelligencer  would 
not  publish  appeared  in  the  National  Journal.  Some 
of  these  articles  reflected  upon  Mrs.  Jackson  and  gave 
great  offense  to  her  husband,  who  was  persuaded  that 
they  were  inspired  by  President  Adams. 

Matthew  L.  Davis,  who  was  probably  the  most  influ- 


Correspondents  in   Washington.  57 

ential  of  Washington  correspondents,  was  a  New  York 
printer.  He  had  entered  political  -life  in  1790  and 
joined  the  Democratic  party,  which  came  into  power  by 
the  election  of  Jefferson  as  President  and  Burr  as  Vice- 
President.  Davis  went  to  Washington  shortly  after- 
ward, and  was  boasting  that  the  elevation  of  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  brought  about  solely  by  the  manage- 
ment of  Tammany  Hall.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  a  philos- 
opher, and  soon  after  caught  a  very  large  fly,  calling  the 
attention  of  Mr.  Davis  to  the  remarkable  fact  of  the 
great  disproportion  in  size  of  one  portion  of  the  insect 
to  its  body.  Mr.  Davis  took  the  hint,  and  left  the  Presi- 
dent, in  doubt  as  to  whether  Mr.  Jefferson  intended 
the  comparison  to  apply  to  New  York  or  to  him  (Davis) 
as  an  individual. 

Mr.  Davis  was  at  one  time  wealthy,  having  cleared 
over  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  South  Ameri- 
can trade ;  but  he  became  poor,  and  for  many  years  he 
was  the  correspondent  at  Washington  of  the  Courier 
and  Enquirer,  of  New  York,  under  the  signature  of 
"The  Spy  in  Washington."  He  was  also  the  corres- 
pondent of  the  Ivondon  Times,  under  the  signature  of 
"The  Genevese  Traveler."  On  one  occasion  Mr.  Davis 
was  presented  to  the  British  Minister  at  Washington 
(Lord  Ashburton)  as  the  author  of  those  letters  in  the 
Times.  "I  am  delighted  to  see  you,"  said  the  Envoy. 
"They  are  extraordinary  letters.  I  have  read  them 
with  great  pleasure.  I  hope,  sir,  that  you  are  well  paid 
by  the  Times.  If  not,  sir,  let  me  know  it ;  I  will  take 
care  that  you  are  paid  handsomely."  Mr.  Davis  begged 
not  to  be  misunderstood,  and  said  that  he  was  amply 
paid  by  the  Times.  He  received  two  guineas  for  each 
letter. 

James  Gordon  Bennett  in  1828,  when  in  his  thirtieth 


58  •  Parley's  Reminiscences. 

year,  became  the  Washington  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Enquirer,  >vhich  was  then  on  the  topmost 
round  of  the  journalistic  ladder.  It  is  related  of  him 
that  during  his  stay  in  this  position  he  came  across  a 
copy  of  WalpoWs  Letters  and  resolved  to  try  the  effect 
of  a  few  letters  written  in  a  similar  strain.  The  truth 
of  this  is  doubtful.  It  is  more  probable  that  the 
natural  talents  of  the  man  were  now  unfettered,  and  he 
wrote  without  fear  of  censorship  and  with  all  the  ease 
which  a  sense  of  freedom  inspires.  He  was  naturally 
witty,  sarcastic,  and  sensible.  These  letters  were  lively, 
they  abounded  in  personal  allusions,  and  they  described 
freely,  not  only  Senators,  but  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  Senators,  and  they  established  Mr.  Bennett's  reputa- 
tion as  a  light  lance  among  the  hosts  of  writers. 

The  Enquirer  and  the  Courier  were  soon  after  com- 
bined, and  Mr.  Bennett  continued  to  write  in  the  edi- 
torial department  of  the  united  journal,  and  in  the 
same  year  became  its  associate  editor.  In  1831  he  co- 
operated zealously  with  General  Jackson  and  the  Dem- 
ocrats in  opposing  the  rechartering  of  the  United 
States  Bank.  Mr.  Bennett  made  his  first  personal 
venture  as  a  newspaper  publisher  in  the  New  York 
Globe,  which  was  issued  just  one  month,  advocat- 
ing the  cause  of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren.  For  a  time 
Mr.  Bennett  then  was  interested  in  a  Philadelphia 
paper,  the  Pennsylvania*,  after  which  came  his  monu- 
mental life  work,  the  New  York  Herald. 

Major  M.  M.  Noah  was  for  many  years  a  leading 
New  York  journalist,  who  occasionally  visited  Wash- 
ington, where  he  was  always  welcome.  Major  Noah 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  apprenticed,  as 
he  grew  up,  to  learn  the  carver's  trade,  but  he  soon 
abandoned  it  for  political  pursuits.  Receiving  the  ap- 


Prominent  Newspaper  Men.  59 

pointment  of  Consul  to  Tunis,  he  passed  several  years 
in  Northern  Africa,  and  on  his  return  wrote  a  very 
clever  book  containing  his  souvenirs  of  travel.  About 
the  year  1825  ne  conceived  the  idea  of  collecting  the  scat- 
tered Jews  and  of  rebuilding  Jerusalem.  Grand  Island, 
in  the  Niagara  River,  above  Niagara  Falls,  was  desig- 
nated as  the  rendezvous,  and  Major  Noah's  proclama- 
tion, which  he  sent  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  created 
quite  a  sensation  among  the  Children  of  Israel.  He 
subsequently  was  connected  with  the  evening  press  of 
New  York  and  was  then  appointed  to  a  Government 
office  by  President  Jackson.  He  was  a  man  of  fine 
personal  appearance  and  great  conversational  powers. 

Another  New  York  journalist,  just  coming  before 
the  public,  was  Thurlow  Weed,  a  tall  man,  with  an 
altogether  massive  person.  His  large  head  was  at  that 
time  covered  with  dark  hair,  and  he  had  prominent 
features  and  gray  eyes,  which  were  watchful  and  over- 
hung by  shaggy  eyebrows.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
natural  strength  of  character,  deep  penetration  as 
regards  human  nature,  and  a  good  sense,  judgment,  and 
cheerfulness  in  his  own  characteristics  which  conduced 
to  respect  and  popularity.  He  was  most  happy  in  his 
intercourse 'with  men,  for  he  had,  when  a  mere  youth, 
a  geniality  and  tact  which  drew  all  toward  him,  and  it 
has  been  said  that  he  never  forgot  a  face  or  a  fact. 
There  has  never  been  a  better  example  of  the  good  old 
stock  of  printer-editors,  who  seemed  to  have  an  intu- 
itive capacity  for  public  affairs,  and  never  to  love 
political  success  well  enough  to  leave  their  newspapers 
in  order  to  pursue  the  glittering  attraction  of  public 
life. 

Among  the  other  newspaper  men  in  Washington 
were  William  Hayden,  Congressional  reporter  for  the 


60  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

National  Intelligencer,  who  afterward  succeeded  Mr. 
Houghton  as  editor  of  the  Boston  Atlas;  L,und  Wash- 
ington, equally  famed  as  a  performer  on  the  violin  and  a 
writer  of  short-hand ;  Samuel  L.  Knapp,  a  graduate 
of  Dartmouth  College,  who  abandoned  the  law  for 
journalism  and  corresponded  with  the  Boston  Gazette, 
and  James  Brooks,  a  graduate  of  Waterville,  afterward 
the  founder  of  the  New  York  Express  and  a  Represen- 
tative in  Congress,  who  was  the  correspondent  of  the 
Portland  Advertiser  and  other  papers. 

Prominent  as  an  adopted  citizen  of  Washington  and 
as  a  personal  friend  of  President  Adams  was  Dr.  Wil- 
liam F.  Thornton,  Superintendent  of  the  Patent  Office, 
who  had  by  personal  appeals  to  his  conquering  country- 
men, in  1814,  saved  the  models  of  patents  from  'the 
general  conflagration  of  the  public  buildings.  He 
was  also  a  devoted  lover  of  horse-racing,  and  on  one 
occasion,  when  he  expected  that  a  horse  of  his  would 
win  the  cup,  Mr.  Adams  walked  out  to  the  race-course 
to  enjoy  the  Doctor's  triumph,  but  witnessed  his  defeat. 
After  the  death  of  Dr.  Thornton  and  of  his  accom- 
plished wife,  it  became  known  that  she  was  the  daughter 
of  the  unfortunate  Dr.  Dodd,  of  London,  who  was 
executed  for  forgery  in  1777.  Her  mother  emigrated 
to  Philadelphia  soon  afterward,  under  the  name  of 
Brodeau,  and  brought  her  infant  daughter  with  her. 
In  Philadelphia  she  opened  a  boarding-school,  which 
was  liberally  patronized,  as  she  had  brought  excellent 
letters  of  recommendation  and  displayed  great  ability 
as  a  teacher.  The  daughter  grew  up  to  be  a  lady 
remarkable  for  her  beauty  and  accomplishments  and 
married  Dr.  Thornton,  who  brought  her  to  Washington 
in  1800. 

Congress  had  placed  on  the   statute-book   stringent 


Gamblers  and  Gambling.  61 

penal  laws  against  gambling,  but  they  were  a  dead 
letter,  unless  some  poor  dupe  made  a  complaint  of  foul 
play,  or  some  fleeced  blackleg  sought  vengeance  through 
the  aid  of  the  Grand  Jury ;  then  the  matter  was  usually 
compounded  by  the  repayment  of  the  money.  The 
northern  sidewalk  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  between 
the  Indian  Queen  Hotel  and  the  Capitol  gate,  was  lined 
with  faro  banks,  where  good  suppers  were  served  and 
well-supplied  sideboards  were  free  to  all  comers.  It 
was  a  tradition  that  in  one  of  these  rooms  Senator 
Moiitford  Stokes,  of  North  Carolina,  sat  down  one 
Thursday  afternoon  to  play  a  game  of  brag  with  Mont- 
joy  Bailey,  then  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  Senate. 
That  body  had  adjourned  over,  as  was  then  its  custom, 
from  Thursday  until  Monday,  so  the  players  were  at 
liberty  to  keep  on  with  their  game,  only  stopping  oc- 
casionally for  refreshments.  The  game  was  continued 
Friday  night  and  Saturday,  through  Saturday  night  and 
all  day  Sunday  and  Sunday  night,  the  players  resting  for 
a  snatch  of  sleep  as  nature  became  exhausted.  Monday 
morning  the  game  was  in  full  blast,  but  at  ten  o'clock 
Bailey  moved  an  adjournment,  alleging  that  his  offi- 
cial duties  required  his  presence  in  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber. Stokes  remonstrated,  but  the  Sergeant-at-Arms 
persisted,  and  rose  from  the  table,  the  Senator  grum- 
bling and  declaring  that  had  he  supposed  that  Stokes 
would  have  thus  prematurely  broken  up  the  game  he 
would  not  have  sat  down  to  play  with  him. 

Whist  was  regularly  played  at  many  of  the  "Con- 
gressional messes,"  and  at  private  parties  a  room  was 
always  devoted  to  whist-playing.  Once  when  the  wife 
of  Henry  Clay  was  chaperoning  a  young  lady  from 
Boston,  at  a  party  given  by  one  of  his  associates  in 
the  Cabinet,  they  passed  through  the  card-room,  where 


62  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

Mr.  Clay  and  other  gentlemen  were  playing  whist.  The 
young  lady,  in  her  Puritan  simplicity,  inquired :  "  Is 
card-playing  a  common  practice  here?"  "Yes,"  replied 
Mrs.  Clay,  "the  gentlemen  always  play  when  they  get 
together."  "Don't  it  distress  you,"  said  the  Boston 
maiden,  "  to  have  Mr.  Clay  gamble  ?"  "  Oh !  dear, 
no !"  composedly  replied  the  statesman's  wife,  "  he 
'most  always  wins." 

There  were  only  a  few  billiard-rooms,  mostly  patron- 
ized by  the  members  of  the  foreign  legations  or  visit- 
ing young  men  from  the  Northern  cities.  Ten-pin 
alleys  were  abundant,  and  some  of  the  muscular  Con- 
gressmen from  the  frontier  would  make  a  succession  of 
"  ten  strikes  "  with  great  ease,  using  the  heaviest  balls. 
Some  of  the  English  residents  organized  a  cricket  club, 
and  used  to  play  on  a  level  spot  in  "  the  slashes,"  near 
where  the  British  Legation  was  afterward  built,  but  the 
game  was  not  popular,  and  no  American  offered  to  join 
the  club. 


/ 


William  Harris  Crawford  was  born  In  Virginia,  February  24^,1772;  was  United  States  Senator, 
1807-1813;  Minister  to  France,  1813-1815;  Secretary  of  War,  1815-1816  ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
1816-1825  ;  Judge  of  the  Northern  Circuit  Court  of  Georgia,  1827, until  he  died  at  Elberton,  Georgia, 
September  xjth,  1834. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PROMINENT  SENATORS  OF  1827. 

THE  NINETEENTH  CONGRESS— VICE-PRESIDENT'jOHN  C.  CALHOUN — MAR- 
TIN VAN  BUREN — NATHANIEL  MACON,  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA — THOMAS 
HART  BENTON — RANDOLPH,  OP  ROANOKE — DUEL  BETWEEN  CLAY  AND 
RANDOLPH — AN  OFFENDED  VIRGINIAN — A  FUTURE  PRESIDENT — PROM- 
INENT SENATORS — SENATORIAL  CONTROL  OF  SOCIETY — THE  DANCING 
ASSEMBLIES — FASHIONABLE  ATTIRE— BELLES  OF  THE  PERIOD — THE 
CODE  OF  HONOR. 

THE  old  Senate  Chamber,  now  used  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  was  admirably  adapted  for  the 
deliberations  of  the  forty-eight  gentlemen  who 
composed  the  upper  house  of  the  Nineteenth  Congress. 
Modeled  after  the  theatres  of  ancient  Greece,  it  possessed 
excellent  acoustic  properties,  and  there  was  ample  ac- 
commodation in  the  galleries  for  the  few  strangers  who 
then  visited  Washington.  The  Senate  used  to  meet  at 
noon  and  generally  conclude  its  day's  work  by  three 
o'clock,  *while  adjournments  over  from  Thursday  until 
the  following  Monday  were  frequent. 

John  C.  Calhoun  was  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  and  consequently  President  of  the  Senate — a 
position  which  to  him  was  very  irksome,  as  he  was 
forced  to  sit  and  dumbly  listen  to  debates  in  which  he 
was  eager  to  participate.  He  had  been  talked  of  by 
some  of  the  best  men  in  the  country  as  a  candidate 
during  the  then  recent  Presidential  election,  but  the 
North  had  not  given  him  any  substantial  support.  •  Re- 

63 


64  ,  Per  ley  s  Reminiscences. 

garding  each.  Senator  as  an  Ambassador  from  a  sove- 
reign State,  he  did  not  believe  that  as  Vice-President 
he  possessed  the  power  to  call  them  to  order  for  words 
spoken  in  debate.  Senator  John  Randolph  abused  this 
license,  and  one  day  commenced  one  of  his  tirades  by 
saying:  "Mr.  Speaker!  I  mean  Mr.  President  of  the 
Senate  and  would-be  President  of  the  United  States, 
which  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  avert"  and  then 
went  on  in  his  usual  strain  of  calumny  and  abuse. 

Mr.  Calhoun  was 'tall,  well-formed,  without  an  ounce 
of  superfluous  flesh,  with  a  serious  expression  of  coun- 
tenance rarely  brightened  by  a  smile,  and  with  his  long, 
black  hair  thrown  back  from  his  forehead,  he  looked 
like  an  arch-conspirator  waiting  for  the  time  to  come 

when  he  could  strike  the  first  blow.     In  his  dress  he 

• 

affected  a  Spartan  simplicity,  yet  he  used  to  have  four 
horses  harnessed  to  his  carriage,  and  his  entertainments 
at  his  residence  on  Georgetown  Heights  were  very 
elegant.  His  private  life  was  irreproachable,  although, 
when  Secretary  of  War  under  Mr.  Monroe,  he  had 
suffered  obloquy  because  of  a  profitable  contract,  which 
had  been  dishonestly  awarded  during  his  absence  by 
his  chief  clerk  to  that  official's  brother-in-law. 

The  prime  mover  of  the  Senate  of  that  day  was 
Martin  Van  Buren,  of  New  York,  who  was  beginning 
to  reap  the  reward  of  years  of  subservient  intrigues. 
Making  the  friends  of  Calhoun  and  of  Crawford  be- 
lieve that  they  had  each  been  badly  treated  by  the 
alliance  between  Adams  and  Clay,  he  united  them  in 
the  support  of  General  Jackson,  and  yet  no  one  sus- 
pected him.  When  Mr.  Van  Buren  had  first  been 
elected  to  Congress,  Rufus  King,  of  his  State,  had  said 
to  G.  F.  Mercer,  also  a  member,  "  Within  two  weeks 
Van  Buren  will  become  perfectly  acquainted  with  the 


Van  Burerfs  Intrigues. 


views  and  feelings  of  every  member,  yet  no  man  will 
know  his." 

This  prediction  was  verified,  and  Mr.  Van  Buren 
soon  became  the  directing  spirit  among  the  friends  of 
General  Jackson,  although  no  one  was  ever  able  to  quote 
his  views.  Taking  Aaron  Burr  as  his  political  model, 
but  leading  an  irreproachable  private  life,  he  rose  by 
his  ability  to  plan  and  to  execute  with  consummate 
skill  the  most  difficult  political  intrigues.  He  was 
rather  under  the 
medium  height, 
with  a  high  fore- 
head, a  quick  eye, 
and  pleasing  fea- 
tures. He  made 
attitude  and  de- 
portment a  study, 
and  when,  on  his 
leaving  the  Senate, 
his  household  fur- 
niture was  sold  at 
auction  it  was  no- 
ticed that  the  car- 
pet before  a  large 
looking  -  glass  in 
his  study  was  worn 

threadbare.     It    was  there  that   he  had    rehearsed  his 
speeches. 

The  "  Father  of  the  Senate  "  was  Nathaniel  Macon, 
of  North  Carolina,  who  had  served  in  the  ranks  during 
the  Revolution,  and  then  in  the  Senate  of  North  Caro- 
lina. He  was  elected  to  the  Second  Congress,  taking 
his  seat  in  October,  1791,  and  after  having  been  re- 
elected  eleven  times,  generally  without  opposition,  he 

5 


JOHN  H.  EATON 


66  •  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

was  transferred  to  the  Senate  in  1815,  and  re-elected 
until  he  declined  in  1828,  making  thirty-seven  years 
of  continuous  Congressional  service.  At  the  very 
commencement  of  his  Congressional  career  he  ener- 
getically opposed  the  financial  schemes  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  through- 
out his  political  career  he  was  a  "  strict,  severe,  and 
stringent "  Democrat.  Personally  Mr.  Macon  was  a 
genial  companion.  He  had  none  of  that  moroseness 
at  the  fireside  which  often  accompanies  political  distinc- 
tion, and  it  was  said  that  at  his  home  he  was  the  kind- 
est and  most  beloved  of  slave-masters. 

Colonel  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  who  had  earned  his 
military  title  in  the  army  during  the  war  with  Great 
Britain,  was  a  large,  heavily  framed  man,  with  black, 
curly  hair  and  whiskers,  prominent  features,  and  a  sten- 
torian voice.  He  wore  the  high,  black-silk  neck-stock 
and  the  double-breasted  frock-coat  of  his  youthful  times 
during  his  thirty  years'  career  in  the  Senate,  varying 
with  the  seasons  the  materials  of  which  his  pantaloons 
were  made,  but  never  the  fashion  in  which  they  were 
cut.  When  in  debate,  outraging  every  customary  pro- 
priety of  language,  he  would  rush  forward  with  blind 
fury  upon  every  obstacle,  like  the  huge,  wild  buffaloes 
then  ranging  the  prairies  of  his  adopted  State,  whose 
paths,  he  used  to  subsequently  assert,  would  show  the 
way  through  the  passes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  He 
was  not  a  popular  speaker,  and  when  he  took  the  floor 
occupants  of  the  galleries  invariably  began  to  leave, 
while  many  Senators  devoted  themselves  to  their  corres- 
pondence. In  private  life  Colonel  Benton  was  gentle- 
ness and  domestic  affection  personified,  and  a  desire 
to  have  his  children  profit  by  the  superior  advantages 
for  their  education  in  the  District  of  Columbia  kept 


Benton  and  His  Constituents. 


->v      \> 


^ 


THOMAS  H.  BENTON  SPEAKING  AT   HIS   DESK. 


him  from  his  constituents  in  Missouri,  where  a  new 
generation  of  voters  grew  up  who  did  not  know 
him  and  who  would  not  follow  his  political  lead, 


68  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

while  lie  was  ignorant  of  their  views  on  the  question 
of  slavery. 

Senator  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  attracted  the  most 
attention  on  the  part  of  strangers.  He  was  at  least 
six  feet  in  height,  with  long  limbs,  an  ill-proportioned 
body,  and  a  small,  round  head.  Claiming  descent  from 
Pocahontas,  he  wore  his  coarse,  black  hair  long,  parted 


JOHN   RANDOLPH    RIDING  TO   THE   CAPITOL. 

in  the  middle,  and  combed  down  on  either  side  of  his 
sallow  face.  His  small,  black  eyes  were  expressive 
in  their  rapid  glances,  especially  when  he  was  engaged 
in  debate,  and  his  high-toned  and  thin  voice  would  ring 
through  the  Senate  Chamber  like  the  shrill  scream  of 
an  angry  vixen.  He  generally  wore  a  full  suit  of  heavy, 
drab-colored  English  broadcloth,  the  high,  rolling  collar 


Randolphs  Eccentricities.  69 

of  his  surtout  coat  almost  concealing  his  head,  while 
the  skirts  hung  in  voluminous  folds  about  his  knee- 
breeches  and  the  white  leather  tops  of  his  boots.  He 
used  to  enter  the  Senate  Chamber  wearing  a  pair  of 
silver  spurs,  carrying  a  heavy  riding-whip,  and  followed 
by  a  favorite  hound,  which  crouched  beneath  his  desk. 
He  wrote,  and  occasionally  spoke,  in  riding-gloves,  and 
it  was  his  favorite  gesture  to  point  the  long  index 
finger  of  his  right  hand  at  his  opponent  as  he  hurled 
forth  tropes  and  figures  of  speech  at  him.  Kvery  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes,  while  he  occupied  the  floor,  he  would 
exclaim  in  a  low  tone,  "Tims,  more  porter!"  and  the 
assistant  doorkeeper  would  hand  him  a  foaming  tumbler 
of  potent  malt  liquor,  which  he  would  hurriedly  drink, 
and  then  proceed  with  his  remarks,  often  thus  drinking 
three  or  four  quarts  in  an  afternoon.  He  was  not 
choice  in  his  selection  of  epithets,  and  as  Mr.  Calhoun 
took  the  ground  that  he  did  not  have  the  power  to  call 
a  Senator  to  order,  the  irate  Virginian  pronounced 
President  Adams  "  a  traitor,"  Daniel  Webster  "  a  vile 
slanderer,"  John  Holmes  "  a  dangerous  fool,"  and  Ed- 
ward Livingston  "  the  most  contemptible  and  degraded 
of  beings,  whom  no  man  ought  to  touch,  unless  with  a 
pair  of  tongs."  One  day,  while  he  was  speaking  with 
great  freedom  of  abuse  of  Mr.  Webster,  then  a  member 
of  the  House,  a  Senator  informed  him  in  an  undertone 
that  Mrs.  Webster  was  in  the  gallery.  He  had  not  the 
delicacy  to  desist,  however,  until  he  had  fully  emptied 
the  vials  of  his  wrath.  Then  he  set  upon  Mr.  Speaker 
Taylor,  and  after  abusing  him  soundly  he  turned  sar- 
castically to  the  gentleman  who  had  informed  him  of 
Mrs.  Webster's  presence,  and  asked,  "  Is  Mrs.  Taylor 
present  also  ?" 

Henry  Clay  was  frequently  the  object  of  Mr.  Ran- 


70  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

dolph's  denunciations,  which  he  bore  patiently  until  the 
"Lord  of  Roanoke"  spoke,  one  'day,  of  the  reported 
alliance  between  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of 
State  as  the  "  coalition  of  Blifil  and  Black  George — the 
combination,  unheard  of  till  then,  of  the  Puritan  and 
the  blackleg."  Mr.  Clay  at  once  wrote  to  know  whether 
he  intended  to  call  him  a  political  gambler,  or  to  attach 
the  infamy  of  such  epithets  to  his  private  life.  Mr. 
Randolph  declined  to  give  any  explanation,  and  a  duel 
was  fought  without  bloodshed. 

Mr.  Randolph,  on  another  occasion,  deliberately  in- 
sulted Mr.  James  Lloyd,  one  of  "  the  solid  men  of 
Boston,"  then  a  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  who  had, 
in  accordance  with  the  custom,  introduced  upon  the 
floor  of  the  Senate  one  of  his  constituents,  Major 
Benjamin  Russell,  the  editor  of  the  Columbian  Sentinel. 
The  sight  of  a  Federal  editor  aroused  Mr.  Randolph's 
anger,  and  he  at  once  insolently  demanded  that  the 
floor  of  the  Senate  be  cleared,  forcing  Major  Russell  to 
retire.  Mr.  Lloyd  took  the  first  opportunity  to  express 
his  opinion  of  this  gratuitous  insult,  and  declared,  in 
very  forcible  language,  that,  as  he  had  introduced 
Major  Russell  on  the  floor,  he  was  responsible  therefor. 
Mr.  Randolph  indulged  in  a  little  gasconade,  in  which 
he  announced  that  his  carriage  was  waiting  at  the  door 
to  convey  him  to  Baltimore,  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
his  remarks  he  left  the  Senate  Chamber  and  the  city. 
Mr.  Calhoun,  who  had  not  attempted  to  check  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, lamented  from  the  chair  that  anything  should 
have  happened  to  mar  the  harmony  of  the  Senate,  and 
again  declared  that  he  had  no  power  to  call  a  Senator 
to  order,  nor  would  he  for  ten  thousand  worlds  look 
like  a  usurper. 

Senator  Tazewell,  Mr.  Randolph's  colleague,  was  a 


A  Shot  that  Paid.  71 

first-class  Virginia  abstractionist  and  an  avowed  hater  of 
New  England.  Dining  one  day  at  the  White  House, 
he  provoked  the  President  by  offensively  asserting  that 
he  had  "  never  known  a  Unitarian  who  did  not  believe 
in  the  sea-serpent."  Soon  afterward  Mr.  Tazewell 
spoke  of  the  different  kinds  of  wines,  and  declared  that 
Tokay  and  Rhenish  wine  were  alike  in  taste.  "  Sir,"  said 
Mr.  Adams,  "  I  do  not  believe  that  yon  ever  drank  a 
drop  of  Tokay  in  all  your  life."  For  this  remark  the 
President  subsequently  sent  an  apology  to  Mr.  Tazewell, 
but  the  Virginia  Senator  never  forgot  or  forgave  the  re- 
mark. 

William  Henry  Harrison,  a  tall,  spare,  gray-haired 
gentleman,  who  had  gone  from  his  Virginia  home  into 
the  Western  wilderness  as  aid-de-camp  to  General 
Anthony  Wayne,  had  been  elected  a  Senator  from  the 
State  of  Ohio,  but  probably  never  dreamed  that  in  years 
to  come  he  would  be  elected  President  by  an  immense 
majority,  with  John  Tyler  on  the  ticket  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent.  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  had, 
however,  begun  to  electioneer  for  the  Democratic  nomi- 
nation for  the  Vice-Presidency,  basing  his  claim  upon 
his  having  shot  Tecumseh  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames, 
and  he  was  finally  successful.  He  was  of  medium  size, 
with  large  features,  and  light  auburn  hair,  and  his  pri- 
vate life  was  attacked  without  mercy  by  his  political 
opponents. 

John  Henry  Eaton,  of  Tennessee,  was  General  Jack- 
son's henchman,  who  had  come  to  the  Senate  that  he 
might  the  better  electioneer  for  his  old  friend  and  com- 
mander. William  Hendricks,  a  Senator  from  Indiana, 
was  the  uncle  of  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  a  subse- 
quent political  generation.  The  New  Hampshire  Sen- 
ators were  Levi  Woodbury  and  John  Bell,  men  of  de- 


72  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

cided  ability  and  moral  worth.  Georgia  supplied  a 
polished  and  effective  orator  in  J.  McPherson  Berrieri. 
Vermont  was  represented  by  portly  and  good-looking 
Dudley  Chase,  who  was  the  uncle  of  Chief  Justice 
Chase,  and  by  Horatio  Seymour,  of  Middlebury. 
Maine's  stalwart,  blue-eyed  Senator,  Albion  Keith 
Parris,  was  said  to  have  filled  more  public  offices  than 
any  other  man  of  his  age,  and  his  colleague,  John 
Holmes,  although  rude  in  speech  and  at  times  vulgar, 
was  the  humorous  champion  of  the  North.  Ever  on 
the  watch  for  some  unguarded  expression  by  a  South- 
ern Senator,  no  sooner  would  one  be  uttered  than  he 
would  pounce  upon  it  and  place  the  speaker  in  a  most 
uncomfortable  position.  John  Tyler  one  day  thought 
that  he  could  annoy  Mr.  Holmes,  and  asked  him  what 
had  become  of  that  political  firm  once  mentioned  in 
debate  by  John  Randolph  as  "James  Madison,  Felix 
Grundy,  John  Holmes,  and  the  Devil."  Mr.  Holmes 
rose  at  once.  "  I  will  tell  the  gentleman,"  said  he, 
"  what  has  become  of  that  firm.  The  first  member  is 
dead,  the  second  has  gone  into  retirement,  the  third  now 
addresses  you,  and  the  last  has  gone  over  to  the  Nulli- 
fiers,  and  is  now  electioneering  among  the  gentleman's 
constituents.  So  the  partnership  is  legally  dissolved." 
The  Senators  were  rather  exclusive,  those  from  the 
South  assuming  the  control  of  u  good  society,"  which 
was  then  very  limited  in  its  extent  and  simple  in  its 
habits.  Few  Senators  or  Representatives  brought  their 
wives  to  cheer  their  Congressional  labors,  and  a  parlor 
of  ordinary  size  would  contain  all  of  those  who  were 
accustomed  to  attend  social  gatherings.  The  diplomats, 
with  the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  stationed  at 
headquarters,  were  accompanied  by  their  wives,  and 
there  were  generally  a  few  visitors  of  social  distinction. 


Ceremonious  Assemblages. 


73 


The  Washington  assemblies  were  very  ceremonious 
and  exclusive.  Admission  was  obtained  only  by  cards 
of  invitation,  issued  after  long  consultations  among  the 
Committeemen,  and,  once  inside  the  exclusive  ring,  the 
beaux  and  belles  bowed  beneath  the  disciplinary  rule  of 


DANCING   PARTY  OF  THE  ANCIENT   ELITE. 

a  master  of  ceremonies.  No  gentleman,  whatever  may 
have  been  his  rank  or  calling,  was  permitted  on  the 
floor  unless  in  full  evening  dress,  with  the  adornment 
of  pumps,  silk  stockings,  and  flowing  cravat,  unless  he 
belonged  to  the  army  or  the  navy,  in  which  case  com- 
plete regimentals  covered  a  multitude  of  sins.  The 


74  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

ball,  commencing  upon  the  stroke  of  eight  precisely, 
opened  with  a  rollicking  country  dance,  and  the  lady 
selected  for  the  honor  of  opening  the  festivities  was 
subsequently  toasted  as  the  reigning  divinity  of  fashion 
for  the  hour.  The  "  minuet  de  la  cour"  and  stately 
u  quadrille,"  varied  by  the  "  basket  dance,"  and,  on  ex- 
ceptional occasions,  the  exhilarating  "  cheat,"  formed  the 
staple  for  saltatorial  performance,  until  the  hour  of 
eleven  brought  the  concluding  country  dance,  when  a 
final  squad  of  roysterers  bobbed  "  up  the  middle  and 
down  again  "  to  the  airs  of  u  Sir  Roger  de  Coverly  "  or 
"  Money  Musk." 

The  music  was  furnished  by  colored  performers  on 
the  violin,  except  on  great  occasions,  when  some  of  the 
Marine  Band  played  an  accompaniment  on  flutes  and 
clarinets.  The  refreshments  were  iced  lemonade,  ice- 
cream, port  wine  negus,  and  small  cakes,  served  in  a 
room  adjoining  the  dancing-hall,  or  brought  in  by  the 
colored  domestics,  or  by  the  cavalier  in  his  own  proper 
person,  who  ofttimes  appeared  upon  the  dancing-floor, 
elbowing  his  way  to  the  lady  of  his  adoration,  in  the 
one  hand  bearing  well-filled  glasses,  and  in  the  other 
sustaining  a  plate  heaped  up  with  cake. 

The  costume  of  the  ladies  was  classic  in  its  scanti- 
ness, especially  at  balls  and  parties.  The  fashionable 
ball  dress  was  of  white  India  crape,  and  five  breadths, 
each  a  quarter  of  a  yard  wide,  were  all  that  was  asked 
for  to  make  a  skirt,  which  only  came  down  to  the 
ankles,  and  was  elaborately  trimmed  with  a  dozen  or 
more  rows  of  narrow  flounces.  Silk  or  cotton  stock- 
ings were  adorned  with  embroidered  "  clocks,"  and  thin 
slippers  were  ornamented  with  silk  rosettes  and  tiny 
buckles. 

Those    gentlemen    who    dressed    fashionably   wore 


Dandyism  and  Duelling.  75 

"Bolivar"  frock-coats  of  some  gay-colored  cloth,  blue 
or  green  or  claret,  with  large  lapels  and  gilded  buttons. 
Their  linen  was  ruffled ;  their  "  Cossack  "  trousers  were 
voluminous  in  size,  and  were  tucked  into  high  "  Hes- 
sian "  boots  with  gold  tassels.  They  wore  two  and 
sometimes  three  waistcoats,  each  of  different  colors, 
and  from  their  watch-pockets  dangled  a  ribbon,  with  a 
bunch  of  large  seals.  When  in  full  dress,  gentlemen 
wore  dress-coats  with  enormous  collars  and  short 
waists,  well-stuffed  white  cambric  cravats,  small-clothes, 
or  tight-fitting  pantaloons,  silk  stockings,  and  pumps. 
Duels  were  very  common,  and  a  case  of  dueling  pis- 
tols was  a  part  of  the  outfit  of  the  Southern  and 
Western  Congressmen,  who  used  to  spend  more  or  less 
time  in  practicing.  Imported  pistols  were  highly  prized, 
but  the  best  weapons  were  made  by  a  noted  Philadel- 
phia gunsmith'  named  Derringer,  who  gave  his  name 
to  a  short  pistol  of  his  invention  to  be  carried  in  the 
trouser's  pocket  for  use  in  street  fights.  Some  of  the 
dueling  pistols  were  inlaid  with  gold,  and  they  all  had 
flint-locks,  as  percussion  caps  had  not  been  invented, 
nor  hair  triggers. 


EDWARD  EVBRBTT.  Born  in  Massachusetts  April  nth,  1794;  was  a  Unitarian  clergyman,  and  a 
professor  at  Harvard  College,  until  elected  a  Representative  from  Massachusetts,  1825-1835  ;  Gover- 
nor of  Massachusetts,  1836-1840  ;  Minister  to  Great  Britain,  1841-1845 ;  President  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege, 1846-1849;  Secretary  of  State  under  President  Fillmore,  1852-1853;  United  States  Senator 
from  Massachusetts,  1853-1854 ;  died  at  Boston,  January  isth,  1865. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PROMINENT    REPRESENTATIVES    OF    1827. 

THE  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL — ADMISSION  OF  LADIES — WEBSTER,  OF 
MASSACHUSETTS — EDWARD  EVERETT — M'DUFFIE,  OF  SOUTH  CARO- 
LINA— RHODE  ISLAND'S  BALD  EAGLE — A  BARGAIN  EXPOSED — RE- 
TRENCHMENT AND  REFORM — PROMINENT  REPRESENTATIVES — THE 
SUPREME  COURT — CHIEF  JUSTICE  MARSHALL — MR.  JUSTICE  WASH- 
INGTON— CHRISTMAS  HOLIDAYS. 

THE  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  (now 
used  as  a  National  Gallery  of  Statuary)  was 
a  reproduction  of  the  ancient  theatre,  magni- 
ficent in  its  effect,  but  so  deficient  in  acoustic  proper- 
ties that  it  was  unfit  for  legislative  occupation.  It  was 
there  that  Henry  Clay,  then  Speaker  of  the  House, 
had  welcomed  General  Lafayette  as  "  the  Nation's 
Guest."  The  contrast  between  the  tall  and  graceful 
Kentuckian,  with  his  sunny  smile  and  his  silver-toned 
voice,  and  the  good  old  Marquis,  with  his  auburn  wig 
awry,  must  have  been  great.  His  reply  appeared  to 
come  from  a  grateful  heart,  but  it  was  asserted  that  the 
Speaker  had  written  both  his  own  words  of  welcome 
and  also  Lafayette's  acknowledgment  of  them,  and  it 
became  a  subject  of  newspaper  controversy,  which  was 
ended  by  the  publication  of  a  card  signed  "  H.  Clay," 
in  which  he  positively  denied  the  authorship,  although 
he  admitted  that  he  had  suggested  the  most  effective 
sentences. 


Ladies  Excluded. 


77 


Ladies  had  been  excluded  from  the  galleries  of  the 
House  originally,  in  accordance  with  British  precedent. 
But  one  night  at  a  party  a  lady  expressed  her  regret  to 
Hon.  Fisher  Ames,  of  Massachusetts,  that  she  could 


LAFAYETTE,  THE  NATION'S  GUEST. 

not  hear  the  arguments,  especially  his  speeches.  Mr. 
Ames  gallantly  replied  that  he  knew  of  no  reason  why 
ladies  should  not  to  hear  the  debates.  "  Then,"  said 
Mrs.  Langdon,  "  if  you  will  let  me  know  when  next 
you  intend  to  speak,  I  will  make  up  a  party  of  ladies 


78  Per  ley*  s  Reminiscences. 

and  we  will  go  and  hear  you."  The  notice  was  given, 
the  ladies  went,  and  since  then  Congressional  orators 
have  always  had  fair  hearers — with  others  perhaps  not 
very  fair. 

The  House  was  really  occupied,  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  the  selection  of  his 
successor.  At  first  the  political  outlook  was  rather 
muddled,  although  keen  eyes  averred  that  they  could 
perceive,  moving  restlessly  to  and  fro,  the  indefinite 
forms  of  those  shadows  which  coming  events  project. 
Different  seers  interpreted  the  phantasmal  appearances 
in  different  fashions,  and  either  endeavored  to  form 
novel  combinations,  or  joined  in  raking  common 
sewers  for  filth  wherewith  to  bespatter  those  who  were 
the  rivals  of  their  favorite  candidates.  It  was  then 
that  Congressional  investigating  committees  became 
a  part  of  the  political  machinery  of  the  day.  The 
accounts  of  President  Adams  when,  in  former  years, 
he  was  serving  the  country  in  Europe  as  a  diplomatist ; 
the  summary  execution  of  deserters  by  order  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  when  he  commanded  the  army  in  Florida  ; 
the  bills  for  refurnishing  the  White  House  ;  the  affida- 
vits concerning  the  alleged  bargain  between  the  Presi- 
dent and  his  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  marriage  of 
General  Jackson  to  Mrs.  Robards  before  she  had  been 
divorced  from  Mr.  Robards,  were,  with  many  other 
scandals,  paraded  before  the  public. 

Daniel  Webster  had  been  recognized  in  advance  as 
the  leader  of  the  House  by  his  appointment  as  chair- 
man of  the  committee  to  inform  Mr.  Adams  that  he 
had  been  elected  President.  This  Mr.  Webster  did 
verbally,  but  Mr.  Adams  had  prepared  a  written  reply, 
which  had  been  copied  by  a  clerk  and  bore  his  auto- 
graph signature. 


"Black  Dan:'1  79 

Mr.  Webster  was  at  that  period  of  his  life  the  em- 
bodiment of  health  and  good  spirits.  .  His  stalwart 
frame,  his  massive  head,  crowned  with  a  wealth  of 
black  hair,  his  heavy  eye-brows,  overhanging  his  great, 
expressive,  and  cavernous  eyes,  all  distinguished  him 
as  one  of  the  powers  of  the  realm  of  intellect — one  of 
the  few  to  whom  Divinity  has  accorded  a  royal  share  of 
the  Promethian  fire  of  genius.  His  deportment  was 
ceremonious,  and  he  made  a  decided  impression  on 
strangers.  When  Jenny  Lind  first  saw  him,  she  was 
much  impressed  by  his  majestic  appearance,  and  after- 
ward exclaimed,  "  I  have  seen  a  man  !" 

His  swarthy  complexion  gained  him  the  epithet  of 
"  Black  Dan."  He  was  very  proud  of  his  complexion, 
which  he  inherited  from  his  grandmother,  Susannah 
Bachelder  (from  whom  the  poet  Whittier  also  claimed 
descent),  and  he  used  to  quote  the  compliment  paid  by 
General  Stark,  the  hero  of  Bennington,  to  his  father,  Col- 
onel Ebenezer  Webster :  "  He  has  the  black  Bachelder 
complexion,  which  burnt  gunpowder  will  not  change." 
Although  majestic  in  appearance,  Mr.  Webster  was  not 
really  a  very  large  man  ;  in  height  he  was  only  about 
five  feet  ten  inches.  His  head  looked  very  large,  but 
he  wore  a  seven  and  five-eighth  hat,  as  did  Mr.  Clay, 
whose  head  appeared  much  smaller.  His  shoulders 
were  very  broad  and  his  chest  was  very  full,  but  his 
hips  and  lower  limbs  were  small. 

Mr.  Webster  had  his  first  great  sorrow  then.  His  eldest, 
and  at  that  time  his  only,  daughter  died  at  Washing- 
ton, and  the  next  year  her  mother  followed  her  to  the 
grave.  This  estimable  lady,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Grace  Fletcher,  was  one  year  older  than  Mr.  Webster, 
and  was  the  daughter  of  a  New  Hampshire  clergyman. 
While  on  her  way  to  Washington  with  her  husband, 


8o 


Perley's  Reminiscences. 


the  December  after  lie  had  been  re-elected  United 
States  Senator  by  a  nearly  two-thirds  vote  in  each 
branch  of  the  "  General  Court "  of  Massachusetts,  she 
was  taken  fatally  ill  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Webster's 
friend,  Dr.  Perkins,  where  they  were  guests. 

Mr.  Webster  had  begun  at  that  time  to  be  disturbed 
about  his  money  matters,  although  he  should  have 
been  in  a  prosperous  pecuniary  condition.  His  profes- 
sional income 
could  not  have 
been  less  than 
twenty  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  and 
he  had  just  receiv- 
ed seventy  thou- 
sand dollars  as  his 
five  per  cent,  fee  as 
counsel  for  the 
claimants  before 
the  Commissioners 
on  Spanish  Claims, 
but  he  had  begun 
to  purchase  land 
and  was  almost  al- 
ways harassed  for 
ready  money. 

Edward  Hverett,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts delegation  in  the  House,  had  won  early  fame 
as  a  popular  preacher  of  the  gospel,  as  a  professor  at 
Harvard  College,  and  as  the  editor  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can Review.  Placed  by  his  marriage  above  want,  he 
became  noted  for  his  profound  learning  and  persuasive 
eloquence.  At  times  he  was  almost  electrical  in  his 
utterances;  his  reasoning  was  logical  and  luminous, 


EDWARD  EVERETT. 


Giants  of  the  House.  81 

and  his  remarks  always  gave  evidence  of  careful  study. 
As  a  politician  Mr.  Bverett  was  not  successful.  The 
personification  of  self-discipline  and  dignity,  he  was  too 
much  like  ail  intellectual  icicle  to  find  favor  with  the 
masses,  and  he  was  deficient  in  courage  when  any  bold 
step  was  to  be'  taken. 

George  McDuffie,  who  represented  the  Bdgefield  Dis- 
trict of  South  Carolina,  had  been  taken  from  labor 
in  a  blacksmith's  shop  by  Mr.  Calhoun  and  became 
the  grateful  champion  of  his  patron  in  the  House.  He 
was  a  spare,  grim-looking  man,  who  was  an  admirer  of 
Milton,  and  who  was  never  known  to  jest  or  to  smile. 
As  a  debater  he  had  few  equals  in  the  House,  but  he 
failed  when,  during  the  discussion  of  the  Panama  Mis- 
sion question,  he  opened  his  batteries  upon  Mr.  Web- 
ster. The  "  expounder  of  the  Constitution  "  retorted 
with  great  force,  reminding  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina  that  noisy  declamation  was  not  logic,  and  that 
he  should  not  apply  coarse  epithets  to  the  President, 
who  could  not  reply  to  them.  Mr.  Webster  then  went 
on  to  say  that  he  would  furnish  the  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina  with  high  authority  on  the  point  to 
which  he  had  objected,  and  quoted  from  a  speech  by  Mr. 
Calhoun  which  effectually  extinguished  Mr.  McDuffie. 

Tristam  Burgess,  of  Rhode  Island,  who  had  a  snowy 
head  and  a  Roman  nose,  was  called  "  the  bald  eagle  of 
the  House."  Although  under  fifty  years  of  age,  his 
white  hair  and  bent  form  gave  him  a  patriarchal  look 
and  added  to  the  effect  of  his  fervid  eloquence  and  his 
withering  sarcasm.  A  man  of  iron  heart,  he  was  ever 
anxious  to  meet  his  antagonists,  haughty  in  his  rude 
self-confidence,  and  exhaustive  in  the  use  of  every 
expletive  of  abuse  permitted  by  parliamentary  usage. 
In  debate  he  resembled  one  of  the  old  soldiers  who 
6 


Sa  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

fought  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  with  heavy  or  light 
arms,  a  battle-axe  or  a  spear.  The  champion  of  the 
North,  he  divided  the  South  and  thrashed  and  slashed 
as  did  old  Horatius,  when  with  his  good  sword  he  stood 
upon  the  bridge  and  with  his  single  arm  defended 
Rome. 

George  Kreiner,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  probably  the 
most  unpopular  man  in  the  House.  An  anonymous 
letter  had  appeared  just  before  the  election  of  President 
by  the  Representatives  denouncing  an  "  unholy  coali- 
tion "  between  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay,  by  which  the 
support  of  the  friends  of  the  latter  had  been  transferred 
to  the  former,  "  as  the  planter  does  his  negroes,  or  the 
farmer  his  team  and  horses."  Mr.  Clay  at  once  pub- 
lished a  card,  over  his  signature,  in  which  he  called  the 
writer  "  a  base  and  infamous  calumniator,  a  dastard, 
and  a  liar."  Mr.  Kremer  replied,  admitting  that  he 
had  written  the  letter,  but  in  such  a  manner  that  his 
political  friends  were  ashamed  of  his  cowardice,  while 
the  admirers  of  Mr.  Clay  were  very  indignant — the 
more  so  as  they  suspected  that  Mr.  James  Buchanan 
had  instigated  the  letter. 

Mr.  Henry  W.  Dwight,  of  Massachusetts,  a  good 
specimen  of  "  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body,"  gave 
great  attention  to  the  appropriation  bills,  and  secured 
liberal  sums  for  carrying  on  the  various  departments  of 
the  Government.  His  most  formidable  antagonist  was 
a  self-styled  reformer  and  physical  giant,  Mr.  Thomas 
Chilton,  of  Kentucky,  who  had  been  at  one  period  of 
his  life  a  Baptist  preacher.  He  declared  on  the  floor  in 
debate  that  he  was  pledged  to  his  constituents  to  en- 
deavor to  retrench  the  expenses  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, to  dimmish  the  army  and  navy,  to  abridge  the 
number  of  civil  and  diplomatic  officials,  and,  above  all, 


Some  Smaller  Men.  83 

to  cut  down  the  pay  of  Congressmen.  He  made  speeches 
in  support  of  all  these  "reforms,"  but  did  not  succeed  in 
securing  the  discharge  of  a  soldier,  a  sailor,  a  diplo- 
matist, or  a  clerk,  neither  did  he  reduce  the  appropria- 
tions one  single  cent.  The  erratic  Mr.  David  Crockett 
was  then  a  member  of  the  House,  but  had  not  attracted 
public  attention,  although  the  Jackson  men  were  angry 
because  he,  one  of  Old  Hickory's  officers  in  the  Creek 
War,  was  a  devoted  adherent  of  Henry  Clay  for  the 
Presidency.  One  of  his  colleagues  in  the  Tennessee 
delegation  was  Mr.  James  K.  Polk,  a  rigid  and  uncom- 
promising Presbyterian,  a  political  disciple  of  Macon, 
and  a  man  of  incorruptible  honesty. 

Prominent  among  the  Representatives  from  the  State 
of  New  York  were  Messrs.  Gulian  C.  Verplanck  and 
Thomas  J.  Oakley,  members  of  the  legal  profession, 
who  were  statesmen  rather  than  politicians.  Mr.  George 
C.  Washington,  of  Maryland,  was  the  great-nephew  of 
"  the  Father  of  his  country,"  and  had  inherited  a  por- 
tion of  the  library  at  Mount  Vernon,  which  he  subse- 
quently sold  to  the  Boston  Athenaeum.  Messrs.  Elisha 
Whittlesey  and  Samuel  Vinton,  Representatives  from 
Ohio,  were  afterward  for  many  years  officers  of  the 
Federal  Government  and  residents  at  Washington.  Mr. 
Jonathan  Hunt,  of  Vermont,  a  lawyer  of  ability,  and 
one  of  the  companions  chosen  by  Mr.  Webster,  was  the 
father  of  that  gifted  artist,  William  Morris  Hunt,  whose 
recent  death  was  so  generally  regretted.  Mr.  Silas 
Wright,  of  New  York,  was  then  attracting  attention  in 
the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he  became  a  great 
leader,  and  which  would  have  elected  him  President 
had  he  not  shortened  his  life  by  intemperance.  He 
was  a  solid,  square-built  man,  with  an  impassive,  ruddy 
face.  He  claimed  to  be  a  good  farmer,  but  no  orator, 


JUDGE  STORY  IN  HIS  OFFICIAL  ROBES. 


Dress  in  the  Supreme  Court.  85 

yet  lie  was  noted  for  the  compactness  of  His  logic, 
which  was  unenlivened  by  a  figure  of  speech  or  a  night 
of  fancy. 

The  Supreme  Court  then  sat  in  the  room  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  Capitol,  now  occupied  as  a  law  library.  It 
has  an  arched  ceiling  supported  by  massive  pillars  that 
obstruct  the  view,  and  is  very  badly  ventilated.  But  it 
is  rich  in  traditions  of  hair -powder,  queues,  ruffled 
shirts,  knee-breeches,  and  buckles.  Up  to  that  time  no 
justice  had  ever  sat  upon  the  bench  in  trousers,  nor 
had  any  lawyer  ventured  to  plead  in  boots  or  wearing 
whiskers.  Their  Honors,  the  Chief  Justice  and  the 
Associate  Justices,  wearing  silk  judicial  robes,  were 
treated  with  the  most  profound  respect.  When  Mr. 
Clay  stopped,  one  day,  in  an  argument,  and  advancing 
to  the  bench,  took  a  pinch  of  snuff  from  Judge  Wash- 
ington's box,  saying,  "  I  perceive  that  your  Honor 
sticks  to  the  Scotch,"  and  then  proceeded  with  his  case, 
it  excited  astonishment  and  admiration.  "  Sir,"  said 
Mr.  Justice  Story,  in  relating  the  circumstance  to  a 
friend,  "  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  man  in  the  United 
States  who  could  have  done  that  but  Mr.  Clay." 

Chief  Justice  John  Marshall,  who  had  then  presided 
in  the  Supreme  Court  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, was  one  of  the  last  survivors  of  those  officers  of 
the  Revolutionary  Army  who  had  entered  into  civil 
service.  He  was  a  tall,  gaunt  man,  with  a  small  head 
and  bright  black  eyes.  He  used  to  wear  an  unbrushed 
long-skirted  black  coat,  a  badly  fitting  waistcoat,  and 
knee-breeches,  a  voluminous  white  cambric  cravat,  gen- 
erally soiled,  and  black  worsted  stockings,  with  low 
shoes  and  silver  buckles.  When  upward  of  seventy 
years  of  age  he  still  relished  the  pleasures  of  the  quoit 
club  or  the  whist  table,  and  to  the  last  his  right  hand 
never  forgot  its  cunning  with  the  billiard  cue. 


86 


Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 


Nor  did  the  Chief  Justice  ever  lose  his  relish  for  a 
joke,  even  at  his  own  expense.  In  the  Law  Library 
one  day  he  fell  from  a  step-ladder,  bruising  himself 
severely  and  scattering  an  armful  of  books  in  all 
directions.  An  attendant,  full  of  alarm,  ran  to  assist 
him,  but  his  Honor  drily  remarked,  "  That  time  I  was 
completely  floored." 


'COMPLETELY   FLOORED" 


Bushrod  Washington,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the 
Supreme  Court  by  President  John  Adams,  was  by  in- 
heritance the  owner  of  Mount  Vernon,  where  his  re- 
mains now  lie,  near  those  of  his  illustrious  uncle, 
George  Washington.  He  was  a  small,  insignificant- 
looking  man,  deprived  of  the  sight  of  one  eye  by  ex- 
cessive study,  negligent  of  dress,  and  an  immoderate 


Christmas  Festivities.  87 

snuff-taker.  He  was  a  rigid  disciplinarian  and  a  great 
stickler  for  etiquette,  and  on  one  occasion  he  sat  for  six- 
teen hours  without  leaving  the  bench.  He  was  also  a 
man  of  rare  humor. 

Christmas  was  the  popular  holiday  season  at  Wash- 
ington sixty  years  ago,  the  descendants  of  the  Mary- 
land Catholics  joining  the  descendants  of  the  Virginia 
Episcopalians  in  celebrating  the  advent  of  their  Lord. 
The  colored  people  enjoyed  the  festive  season,  and 
there  was  scarcely  a  house  in  Washington  in  which 
there  was  not  a  well-filled  punch  bowl.  In  some 
antique  silver  bowls  was  "  Daniel  Webster  punch," 
made  of  Medford  rum,  brandy,  champagne,  arrack, 
maraschino,  strong  green  tea,  lemon  juice,  and  sugar; 
in  other  less  expensive  bowls  was  found  a  cheaper  con- 
coction. But  punch  abounded  everywhere,  and  the 
bibulous  found  Washington  a  rosy  place,  where  jocund 
mirth  and  joyful  recklessness  went  arm  in  arm  to  flout 
vile  melancholy,  and  kick,  with  ardent  fervor,  dull 
care  out  of  the  window.  Christmas  carols  were  sung 
in  the  streets  by  the  young  colored  people,  and  yule 
logs  were  burned  in  the  old  houses  where  the  fire- 
places had  not  been  bricked  up. 


/ 


c 


HENRY  CLAY,  born  in  Virginia,  April  i2th,  1777 ;  United  States  Senator  from  Kentucky,  1806-1807, 
and  again  1810-1811 ;  Representative  from  Kentucky,  1811-1814;  negotiator  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
1815;  Representative  in  Congress,  1815-1820,  and  1823-1825;  Secretary  of  State  under  President 
Adams,  1825-1829;  United  States  Senator  from  Kentucky,  1831-1842,  and  1844,  until  he  died  at 
Washington  City,  June  2gth,  1852. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   POLITICAL   MACHINE. 


PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  —  ELECTION  OP  GENERAL  JACKSON' 
—  DEATH  OF  MRS.  ANDREW  JACKSON  —  THE  INAUGURATION  OF  "OLD 
HICKORY"  —  RECEPTION  AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE—  AN  EDITORIAL  PHA- 

LANX—THE CIVIL  SERVICE—  DISCIPLINING  A  POSTMASTER-GENERAL  — 
A  FORTUNATE  MAIL  CONTRACTOR  —  THE  SUNDAY  MAIL  CRUSADE. 

AS  the  time  for  another  Presidential  election  ap- 
proached, the  friends  of  General  Jackson  com- 
menced active  operations  in  his  behalf.  The 
prime  mover  in  the  campaign  was  General  John  Henry 
Eaton,  then  a  Senator  from  Tennessee.  He  had  pub- 
lished in  1818  a  brief  life  of  the  hero  of  New  Orleans, 
which  he  enlarged  in  1824  an(^  published  with  the  title, 
"The  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,  Major-General  in  the 
Service  of  the  United  States,  comprising  a  History  of 
the  War  in  the  South  from  the  Commencement  of  the 
Creek  Campaign  to  the  Termination  of  Hostilities  Be- 
fore New  Orleans."  The  facts  in  it  were  obtained  from 
General  Jackson  and  his  wife,  but  every  incident  of  his 
life  calculated  to  injure  him  in  the  public  estimation 
was  carefully  suppressed.  It  was,  however,  the  recog- 
nized text-book  for  Democratic  editors  and  stump  speak- 
ers, and  although  entirely  unreliable,  it  has  formed 
the  basis  for  the  lives  of  General  Jackson  since  pub- 
lished. 

President  Adams  enjoined  neutrality  upon  his  friends, 
88 


Bitter  Oppositions. 


89 


but  some  of  them,  acting  with  Democrats  who  were 
opposed  to  the  election  of  General  Jackson,  had  pub- 
lished and  circulated,  as  an  offset  to  General  Baton's 
book,  a  thick  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Reminiscences ;  or, 
an  Extract  from  the  Catalogue  of  General  Jackson's 
Youthful  Indiscretions,  between  the  Age  of  Twenty- 


ANDREW   JACKSON. 

three  and  Sixty,"  which  contained  an  account  of  Jack- 
son's fights,  brawls,  affrays,  and  duels,  numbered  from 
one  to  fourteen.  Broadsides,  bordered  with  wood-cuts 
of  coffins,  and  known  as  "  coffin  hand-bills,"  narrated 
the  summary  and  unjust  execution  as  deserters  of  a 
number  of  militiamen  in  the  Florida  campaign  whose 


90  Perlefs  Reminiscences. 

legal  term  of  service  had  expired.  Another  handbill 
gave  the  account  of  General  Jackson's  marriage  to 
Mrs.  Robards  before  she  had  been  legally  divorced  from 
her  husband. 

General  Jackson's  friends  also  had  printed  and  circu- 
lated large  editions  of  campaign  songs,  the  favorite 
being  "  The  Hunters  of  Kentucky,"  which  commenced  : 

"  You've  heard,  I  s'pose,  of  New  Orleans, 

'Tis  famed  for  youth  and  beauty, 
There' re  girls  of  every' hue,  it  seems, 

From  snowy  white  to  sooty. 
Now  Packenham  had  made  his  brags, 

If  he  that  day  was  lucky, 
He'd  have  those  girls  and  cotton-bags 

In  spite  of  old  Kentucky. 
But  Jackson,  he  was  wide  awake, 

And  was  not  scared  at  trifles, 
For  well  he  knew  Kentucky's  boys, 

With  their  death-dealing  rifles. 
He  led  them  down  to  cypress  swamp, 

The  ground  was  low  and  mucky, 
There  stood  John  Bull  in  martial  pomp, 

And  here  stood  old  Kentucky. 

"  Oh  !  Kentucky,  the  hunters  of  Kentucky  !" 

After  a  political  campaign  of  unprecedented  bitter- 
ness, General  Jackson  was  elected,  receiving  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-eight  electoral  votes  against  eighty- 
three  cast  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  so  a  new 
chapter  was  commenced  in  the  social  as  well  as  the 
political  chronicles  of  the  National  Capital.  Those 
who  had  known  the  Presidential  successors  of  Wash- 
ington as  educated  and  cultivated  gentlemen,  well 
versed  in  the  courtesies  of  private  life  and  of  ceremo- 
nious statesmanship,  saw  them  succeeded  by  a  military 
chieftain,  whose  life  had  been  "  a  battle  and  a  march," 
thickly  studded  with  personal  difficulties  and  duels ; 


Knavery   Triumphant.  91 

who  had  given  repeated  evidences  of  his  disregard  of 
the  laws  when  they  stood  in  the  way  of  his  imperious 
will ;  and  who,  when  a  United  States  Senator,  had  dis- 
played no  ability  as  a  legislator.  His  election  was 
notoriously  the  work  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  inspired 
by  Aaron  Burr,  and  with  his  inauguration  was  initiated 
a  sordidly  selfish  political  system  entirely  at  variance 
with  the  broad  views  of  Washington  and  of  Hamilton. 


OLD  WAR  DEPARTMENT. 

It  was  assumed  that  every 
citizen  had  his  price  ;  that 
neither  virtue  nor  genius 
was  proof  against  clever 
although  selfish  corruption  ;  that  political  honesty  was 
a  farce ;  and  that  the  only  way  of  governing  those 
knaves  who  elbowed  their  way  up  through  the  masses 
was  to  rule  them  by  cunning  more  acute  than  their 
own  and  by  knavery  more  subtle  and  calculating  than 
theirs. 

Before  leaving  his  rural  home  in  Tennessee,  General 
Jackson  had  been  afflicted  by  the  sudden  death  of  his 


92  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

wife.  "  Aunt  Rachel,"  as  Mrs.  Jackson  was  called  b} 
her  husband's  personal  friends,  had  accompanied  him 
to  Washington  when  he  was  there  as  a  Senator  from 
Tennessee.  She  was  a  short,  stout,  unattractive,  and 
uneducated  woman,  though  greatly  endeared  to  Gen- 
eral Jackson.  While  he  had  been  in  the  army  she  had 
carefully  managed  his'  plantation,  his  slaves,  and  his 
money  matters,  and  her  devotion  to  him  knew  no 
bounds.  Her  happiness  was  centered  in  his,  and  it 
was  her  chief  desire  to  smoke  her  corn-cob  pipe  in 
peace  at  his  side.  When  told  that  he  had  been  elected 
President  of  the  United  States,  she  replied,  "  Well,  for 
Mr.  Jackson's  sake  I  am  glad  of  it,  but  for  myself  I 
am  not."  A  few  weeks  later  she  was  arrayed  for  the 
grave  in  a  white  satin  costume  which  she  had  provided 
herself  with  to  wear  at  the  White  House.  After  her 
funeral  her  sorrow-stricken  husband  came  to  Washing- 
ton with  a  stern  determination  to  punish  those  who 
had  maligned  her  during  the  preceding  campaign. 
Having  been  told  that  President  Adams  had  sanctioned 
the  publication  of  the  slanders,  he  did  not  call  at  the 
White  House,  in  accordance  with  usage,  but  paid  daily 
visits  to  his  old  friends  in  the  War  Department.  Mr. 
Adams,  stung  by  this  neglect,  determined  not  to  play 
the  part  of  the  conquered  leader  of  the  inauguration, 
and  quietly  removed  to  the  house  of  Commodore 
Porter,  in  the  suburbs,  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of 
March. 

The  weather  on  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  was  serene 
and  mild,  and  at  an  early  hour  Pennsylvania  Avenue, 
then  unpaved,  with  a  double  row  of  poplar  trees  along 
its  centre,  was  filled  with  crowds  of  people,  many  of 
whom  had  journeyed  immense  distances  on  foot.  The 
officials  at  Washington,  who  were  friends  of  Mr.  Adams, 


"Hurrah  for  Jackson"  93 

had  agreed  not  to  participate  in  the  inaugural  ceremo- 
nies, and  the  only  uniformed  company  of  light  infantry, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Seaton,  of  the  National  Intelli- 
gencer, had  declined  to  offer  its  services  as  an  escort. 
A  number  of  old  Revolutionary  officers,  however,  had 
hastily  organized  themselves,  and  waited  on  General 
Jackson  to  solicit  the  honor  of  forming  his  escort  to 
the  Capitol,  an  offer  which  was  cordially  accepted.  The 
General  rode  in  an  open  carriage  which  had  been 
placed  at  his  disposal,  and  was.  surrounded  by  these 
gallant  veterans.  The  assembled  thousands  cheered 
lustily  as  their  favorite  passed  along,  every  face  radiant 
with  defiant  joy,  and  every  voice  shouting  "  Hurrah 
for  Jackson !" 

After  the  installation  of  John  C.  Calhoun  as  Vice- 
President  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  the  assembled  digni- 
taries moved  in  procession  through  the  rotunda  to  the 
east  front  of  the  Capitol.  As  the  tall  figure  of  the 
President-elect  came  out  upon  the  portico  and  ascended 
the  platform,  uplifted  hats  and  handkerchiefs  waved  a 
welcome,  and  shouts  of  "  Hurrah  for  Jackson !"  rent 
the  air.  Looking  around  for  a  moment  into  ten  thou- 
sand upturned  and  exultant  human  faces,  .the  Presi- 
dent-elect removed  his  hat,  took  the  manuscript  of  his 
address  from  his  pocket,  and  read  it  with  great  dignity. 
When  he  had  finished,  Chief  Justice  Marshall  admin- 
istered the  oath,  and  as  the  President,  bending  over  the 
sacred  Book,  touched  it  with  his  lips,  there  arose  such 
a  shout  as  was  never  before  heard  in  Washington,  fol- 
lowed by  the  thunder  of  cannons,  from  two  light  bat- 
teries near  by,  echoed  by  the  cannon  at  the  Navy 
Yard  and  at  the  Arsenal.  The  crowd  surged  toward 
the  platform,  and  had  it  not  been  that  a  ship's  cable 
had  been  stretched  across  the  portico  steps  would  have 


94  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

captured  their  beloved  leader.  As  it  was,  lie  shook 
hands  with  hundreds,  and  it  was  with  some  difficulty 
that  he  could  be  escorted  back  to  his  carriage  and  along 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  to  the  White  House.  Mean- 
while Mr.  Adams,  who  had  refused  to  participate  in  the 
pageant,  was  taking  his  usual  constitutional  horseback 
exercise  when  the  thunders  of  the  cannon  reached  his 
ears  and  notified  him  that  he  was  again  a  private  citi- 
zen. 

The  broad  sidewalks  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue  were 
again  packed  as  the  procession  returned  from  the  Capi- 
tol. "I  never  saw  such  a  crowd,"  wrote  Daniel  Web- 
ster to  a  friend.  "  Persons  have  come  five  hundred 
miles  to  see  General  Jackson,  and  they  really  seem  to 
think  that  the  country  is  rescued  from  some  dreadful 
danger."  Hunters  of  Kentucky  and  Indian  fighters 
of  Tennessee,  with  sturdy  frontiersmen  from  the 
Northwest,  were  mingled  in  the  throng  with  the  more 
cultured  dwellers  on  the  Atlantic  slope. 

On  their  arrival  at  the  White  House,  the  motley 
crowd  clamored  for  refreshments  and  soon  drained  the 
barrels  of  punch,  which  had  been  prepared,  in  drink- 
ing to  the  health  of  the  new  Chief  Magistrate.  A 
great  deal  of  china  and  glassware  was  broken,  and  the 
Hast  Room  was  filled  with  a  noisy  mob.  At  one  time 
General  Jackson,  who  had  retreated  until  he  stood  with 
his  back  against  the  wall,  was  protected  by  a  number 
of  his  friends,  who  formed  a  living  barrier  about  him. 
Such  a  scene  had  never  before  been  witnessed  at  the 
White  House,  and  the  aristocratic  old  Federalists  saw, 
to  their  disgust,  men  whose  boots  were  covered  with  the 
red  mud  of  the  unpaved  streets  standing  on  the  dam- 
ask satin-covered  chairs  to  get  a  sight  at  the  President 
of  their  choice. 


An  Inauguration  Dinner.  95 

Late  in  the  afternoon  President  Jackson  sat  down  to 
dinner  with.  Vice-President  Calhoun  and  a  party  of  his 
personal  friends,  the  central  dish  on  the  table  being  a 
sirloin  from  a  prize  ox,  sent  to  him  by  John  Merkle,  a 
butcher  of  Franklin  Market,  New  York.  Before  retir- 
ing that  night,  the  President  wrote  to  the  donor :  "  Per- 
mit me,  sir,  to  assure  you  of  the  gratification  which  I 
felt  in  being  enabled  to  place  on  my  table  so  fine  a  speci- 
men from  your  market,  and  to  offer  you  my  sincere 
thanks  for  so  acceptable  a  token  of  your  regard  for  my 
character." 

This  was  naturally  the  commencement  of  a  series 
of  presents  which  poured  in  on  President  Jackson  dur- 
ing the  eight  years  of  his  administration.  So  palpable 
a  bid  for  other  tokens  of  regard  for  the  President's 
character  could  hardly  fail  to  evoke  responses.  From 
the  days  of  Solomon  it  has  been  true  that  "  a  man's 
gift  maketh  room  for  him,"  and  though  many  of  Jack- 
son's gift-senders  failed  to  find  the  room  made,  yet  it 
was  true  nevertheless  that  room  was  seldom  made 
where  the  gifts  were  not  forthcoming,  so  come  the  gifts 
did  in  abundance. 

The  Democratic  journalists  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  were  also  well  represented  at  the  inauguration, 
attracted,  doubtless,  by  this  luring,  semi-official  declara- 
tion in  the  Telegraph :  "  We  know  not  what  line  of 
policy  General  Jackson  will  adopt.  We  take  it  for 
granted,  however,  that  he  will  reward  his  friends  and 
punish  his  enemies." 

The  leader  of  this  editorial  phalanx  was  Amos  Ken- 
dall, a  native  of  Dunstable,  Massachusetts,  who  had  by 
pluck  and  industry  acquired  an  education  and  migrated 
westward  in  search  of  fame  and  fortune.  Accident 
made  him  an  inmate  of  Henry  Clay's  house  and  the 


g6  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

tutor  of  his  children ;  but  many  months  had  not 
elapsed  before  the  two  became  political  foes,  and  Ken- 
dall, who  had  become  the  conductor  of  a  Democratic 
newspaper,  triumphed,  bringing  to  Washington  the 
official  vote  of  Kentucky  for  Andrew  Jackson.  He 
found  at  the  National  metropolis  other  Democratic 
editors,  who,  like  himself,  had  labored  to  bring  about 
the  political  revolution,  and  they  used  to  meet  daily  at 
the  house  of  a  preacher-politician,  Rev.  Obadiah  B. 
Brown,  who  had  strongly  advocated  Jackson's  election. 
Mr.  Brown,  who  was  a  stout,  robust  man,  with  a  great 
fund  of  anecdotes,  was  a  clerk  in  the  Post  Office  De- 
partment during  the  week,  while  on  Sundays  he  per- 
formed his  ministerial  duties  in  the  Baptist  Church. 

Organizing  under  the  lead  of  Amos  Kendall,  whose 
lieutenants  were  the  brilliant  but  vindicative  Isaac  Hill, 
of  New  Hampshire ;  the  scholarly  Nathaniel  Greene,  of 
Massachusetts ;  the  conservative  Gideon  Welles,  of 
Connecticut;  the  jovial  Major  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  of 
New  York,  and  the  energetic  Dabney  S.  Carr,  of  Mary- 
land, the  allied  editors  claimed  their  rewards.  They 
were  not  to  be  appeased  by  sops  of  Government  adver- 
tising, or  by  the  appointment  of  publisher  of  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  in  the  respective  States,  but  they 
demanded  some  of  the  most  lucrative  public  offices  as 
their  share  of  the  spoils.  No  sooner  did  General  Jack- 
son reach  Washington  then  they  made  a  systematic 
attack  upon  him,  introducing  and  praising  one  another, 
and  reciprocally  magnifying  their  faithful  services 
during  the  canvass  so  successfully  ended.  The  result 
was  that  soon  after  the  inauguration  nearly  fifty  of 
those  editors  who  had  advocated  his  election  were  ap- 
pointed to  official  Federal  positions  as  rewards  for  politi- 
cal services  rendered. 


Official  Decapitations.  97 

Up  to  that  time  the  national  elections  in  the  United 
States  had  not  been  mere  contests  for  the  possession  of 
Federal  offices — there  was  victory  and  there  was  defeat ; 
but  the  quadrennial  encounters  affected  only  the  heads 
of  departments,  and  the  results  were  matters  of  com- 
parative indifference  to  the  subordinate  official  drudges 
whose  families  depended  on  their  pay  for  meat  and 
bread.  A  few  of  these  department  clerks  were  Revolu- 
tionary worthies ;  others  had  followed  the  Federal 
Government  from  New  York  or  Philadelphia ;  all  had 
expected  to  hold  their  positions  for  life.  Some  of  these 
desk-slaves  had  originally  been  Federalists,  others 
Democrats ;  and  while  there  was  always  an  Alexander 
Hamilton  in  every  family  of  the  one  set,  there  was  as 
invariably  a  Thomas  Jefferson  in  every  family  of  the 
other  set.  But  no  subordinate  clerk  had  ever  been 
troubled  on  account  of  his  political  faith  by  a  change 
of  the  Administration,  and  the  sons  generally  succeeded 
their  fathers  when  they  died  or  resigned.  Ordinarily, 
these  clerks  were  good  penmen  and  skillful  accountants, 
toiling  industriously  eight  hours  every  week  day  with- 
out dreaming  of  demanding  a  month's  vacation  in  the 
summer,  or  insisting  upon  their  right  to  go  to  their 
homes  to  vote  in  the  fall.  National  politics  was  to 
them  a -matter  of  profound  indifference  until,  after  the 
inauguration  of  General  Jackson,  hundreds  of  them 
found  themselves  decapitated  by  the  Democratic  guillo- 
tine, without  qualifications  for  any  other  employment 
had  ths  limited  trade  of  Washington  afforded  any. 
Many  of  them  were  left  in  a  pitiable  condition,  but 
when  the  Telegraph  was  asked  what  these  men  could 
do  to  ward  off  starvation,  the  insolent  reply  was,  "  Root, 
hog,  or  die !"  Some  of  the  new  political  brooms  swept 
clean,  and  made  a  great  show  of  reform,  notably  Amos 
7 


g8  Perley^s   Reminiscences. 

Kendall,  who  was  appointed  Fourth  Auditor  of  the 
Treasury,  and  who  soon  after  exulted  over  the  discovery 
of  a  defalcation  of  a  few  hundred  dollars  in  the  accounts 
of  his  predecessor,  Dr.  Tobias  Watkins. 

Postmaster-General  McLean,  of  Ohio,  who  had  been 
avowedly  a  Jackson  man  while  he  was  a  member  of 
Mr.  Adams'  Administration,  rebelled  against  the  re- 
moval of  several  of  his  most  efficient  subordinates 
because  of  their  political  action  during  the  preceding 
Presidential  campaign.  At  last  he  flatly  told  General 
Jackson  that  if  he  must  remove  those  postmasters 
who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  politics,  he  should 
impartially  turn  out  those  who  had  worked  to  secure 
the  election  of  General  Jackson,  as  well  as  those  who 
had  labored  to  re-elect  Mr.  Adams.  To  this  General 
Jackson  at  first  made  no  reply,  but  rose  from  his  seat, 
puffing  away  at  his  pipe ;  and  after  walking  up  and 
down  the  floor  two  or  three  times,  he  stopped  in  front 
of  his  rebellious  Postmaster-General,  and  said,  "  Mr. 
McLean,  will  you  accept  a  seat  upon  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court?"  The  judicial  position  thus  tendered 
was  accepted  with  thanks,  and  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
ment was  placed  under  the  direction  of  Major  Barry, 
who  was  invited  to  take  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet  (never 
occupied  by  his  predecessors) ,  and  who  not  only  made 
the  desired  removals  and  appointments,  but  soon 
plunged  the  finances  of  the  Department  into  a  chaotic 
state  of  disorder. 

Prominent  among  those  "  Jackson  men "  who  re- 
ceived lucrative  mail  contracts  from  Postmaster-General 
Barry,  was  "  Land  Admiral "  Reeside,  an  appellation 
he  owed  to  the  executive  ability  which  he  had  displayed 
in  organizing  mail  routes  between  distant  cities.  He 
was  a  very  tall  man,  well  formed,  with  florid  complex- 


An  Accommodating  Official. 


99 


ion  red  hair,  and  side  whiskers.  Very  obligingly,  he 
once  had  a  horse  belonging  to  a  Senator  taken  from 
Pittsburg  to  Washington  tied  behind  a  stage,  because 
the  owner  had  affixed  his  "frank"  to  the  animal's 
halter.  He  was  the  first  mail  contractor  who  ran  his 
stages  between  Philadelphia  and  the  West,  by  night  as 
well  as  by  day,  and  Mr.  Joseph  R.  Chandler,  of  the 
United  States  Gazette,  said  that  "  the  Admiral  could 


FIRST   RAILROAD   CAR. 


leave  Philadelphia  on  a  six-horse  coach  with  a  hot 
johnny-cake  in  his  pocket  and  reach  Pittsburg  before 
it  could  grow  cold."  He  used  to  ridicule  the  locomo- 
tives when  they  were  first  introduced,  and  offer  to  bet  a 
thousand  dollars  that  no  man  could  build  a  machine 
that  would  drag  a  stage  from  Washington  to  Baltimore 
quicker  than  his  favorite  team  of  iron-grays. 

Mail  robberies  were  not  uncommon  in  those  days, 
although  the  crime  was  punishable  with  imprisonment 
or  death.  One  day  one  of  Reeside's  coaches  was 
stopped  near  Philadelphia  by  three  armed  men,  who 


100 


Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 


ordered  the  nine  passengers  to  alight  and  stand  in  a 
line.  One  of  the  robbers  then  mounted  guard,  while 
the  other  two  made  the  terrified  passengers  deliver  up 
their  money  and  watches,  and  then  rifled  the  mail  bags. 
They  were  soon  afterward  arrested,  tried,  convicted,  and 
one  was  sentenced  to  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary, 
while  the  other  two  were  condemned  to  be  hung.  For- 
tunately for  one  of  the  culprits,  named  Wilson,  he  had 


FIRST  LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINE. 


some  years  previously,  at  a  horse-race  near  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  privately  advised  General  Jackson  to  with- 
draw his  bets  on  a  horse  which  he  was  backing,  as  the 
jockey  had  been  ordered  to  lose  the  race.  The  General 
was  very  thankful  for  this  information,  which  enabled 
him  to  escape  a  heavy  loss,  and  he  promised  his  infor- 
mant that  he  would  befriend  him  whenever  an  oppor- 
tunity should  offer.  When  reminded  of  this  promise, 


Opposition  to  Sunday  Mails.  101 

after  Wilson  had  been  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  Jackson 
promptly  commuted  the  sentence  to  ten  years  imprison- 
ment in  the  penitentiary. 

When  Admiral  Reeside  was  carrying  the  mails  be- 
tween New  York  and  Washington,  there  arose  a  formid- 
able organization  in  opposition  to  the  Sunday  mail 
service.  The  members  of  several  religious  denomina- 
tions were  prominent  in  their  demonstrations,  and 
in  Philadelphia,  chains,  secured  by  padlocks,  were 
stretched  across  the  streets  on  Sundays  to  prevent  the 
passage  of  the  mail-coaches.  The  subject  was  taken  up 
by  politicians,  and  finally  came  before  the  House  of 
Representatives,  where  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Post-Roads,  of  which  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Ken- 
tucky, was  then  the  chairman.  The  Rev.  Obadiah  B. 
Brown,  who  had  meanwhile  been  promoted  in  the  Post- 
office  Department,  wrote  a  report  on  the  subject  for 
Colonel  Johnson,  which  gave  "  the  killer  of  Tecumseh  " 
an  extended  reputation,  and  was  the  first  step  toward 
his  election  as  Vice-President,  a  few  years  later. 


JOHN  CALDWELL  CALHOUN  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  March  i8th,  1782  :  was  a  Representative 
in  Congress,  1811-1817;  Secretary  of  War,  1817-1825;  Vice-President,  1825-1832;  United  States 
Senator,  1833-1843  ;  Secretary  of  State,  1844-1845  ;  United  States  Senator  from  1845  until  his  death 
at  Washington  City,  March  3151,  1850. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  KITCHEN   CABINET. 

JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE— THE  KITCHEN  CABINET — BLAIR,  OP 
THE  GLOBE — WASHINGTON  NEWSPAPERS  AND  NEWS — THE  FIRST  LADY- 
BIRD OF  THE  PRESS — NATHANIEL  P.  WILLIS — PETER  FORCE— SOCIAL 
ENJOYMENTS — MRS.  TROLLOPE  ON  WASHINGTON  SOCIETY — ATTEMPT 
TO  OUST  A  VETERAN  FROM  OFFICE— PAYMENT  OF  THE  CLAIMS  ON 

FRANCE. 

WHEN  the  Twenty-first  Congress  assembled, 
on  the  yth  of  December,  1829,  General 
Jackson  sent  in  his  first  annual  message, 
which  naturally  attracted  some  attention.  Meeting  his 
old  and  intimate  friend,  General  Armstrong,  the  next 
day,  the  President  said,  "  Well,  Bob,  what  do  the 
people  say  of  my  message  ?"  "  They  say,"  replied 
General  Armstrong,  "  that  it  is  first-rate,  but  nobody 
believes  that  you  wrote  it."  '  Well,"  good-naturedly 
replied  Old  Hickory,  a  don't  I  deserve  just  as 
much  credit  for  picking  out  the  man  who  could 
write  it  ?"  Although  the  words  of  this  and  of  the  sub- 
sequent messages  were  not  General  Jackson's,  the 
ideas  were,  and  he  always  insisted  on  having  them 
clearly  expressed.  It  was  in  his  first  message,  by  the 
way,  that  he  invited  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the 
fact  that  the  charter  of  the  United  States  Bank  would 
expire  in  1836,  and  asserted  that  it  had  "  failed  in  the 
great  end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and  sound  cur- 
rency." This  was  the  beginning  of  that  fierce  political 
102 


"  Old  Hickory"  at  Home.  103 

contest  which,  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  General  Jack- 
son and  the  overthrow  of  the  United  States  Bank. 

General  Jackson  rarely  left  the  White  House,  where 
he  passed  the  greater  portion  of  his  time  in  his  office  in 
the  second  story,  smoking  a  corn-cob  pipe  with  a  long 
reed  stem.  He  was  at  the  commencement  of  his  Presi- 
dential term  sixty-two  years  of  age,  tall,  spare,  with  a 
high  forehead,  from  which  his  gray  hair  was  brushed 
back,  a  decisive  nose,  searching,  keen  eyes,  and,  when 
good-natured,  an  almost  childlike  expression  about  his 
mouth.  A  self-reliant,  prejudiced,  and  often  very  iras- 
cible old  man,  it  was  a  very  difficult  task  to  manage 
him.  Some  of  his  Cabinet  advisers  made  it  a  point  to 
be  always  with  him,  to  prevent  others  from  ingratiating 
themselves  into  his  good  will,  and  they  were  thus 
chronicled  in  a  ballad  of  the  time  : 

"  King  Andrew  had  five  trusty  'squires, 

Whom  he  held  his  bid  to  do  ; 
He  also  had  three  pilot-fish, 

To  give  the  sharks  their  cue. 
There  was  Mat  and  Lou  and  Jack  and  I/ev, 

And  Roger,  of  Taney  hue, 
And  Blair,  the  book, 
And  Kendall,  chief  cook, 

And  Isaac,  surnamed  the  true." 

Mat.  Van  Buren  was  Secretary  of  State,  Lou.  McLane 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  John  Branch  was  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  Lev.  Woodbury  was  his  successor,  and 
Roger  B.  Taney  was  Attorney-General.  Blair,  Ken- 
dall, and  Isaac  Hill  were  also  known  as  "  the  kitchen 
cabinet." 

The  confidential  advisers  of  General  Jackson  lost  no 
time  in  establishing  a  daily  newspaper  which  would 
speak  his  sentiments  and  sound  a  key-note  for  the 
guidance  of  his  followers.  The  Washington  Globe  was 


IO4  Perleys  Reminiscences. 

accordingly  started  on  an  immediate  paying  basis,  as  it 
had  the  name  of  every  Federal  office-holder  whose 
salary  exceeded  one  thousand  dollars  on  its  subscription 
list.  The  paper  was  sent  them,  and  in  due  time  the 
bill  for  a  year.  If  a  remittance  was  made,  well  and 
good ;  if  payment  was  refused,  the  delinquent  was  told 
informally  that  he  could  pay  his  subscription  to  the 
Globe,  or  be  replaced  by  some  one  else  who  would  pay 
it.  It  was  owned  and  edited  by  Blair  &  Rives,  Rives 
attending  to  the  business  department  of  the  establish- 
ment. Mr.  Blair  had  been  the  partner  of  Amos  Ken- 
dall in  the  publication  of  the  Frankfort  Argus,  and 
they  had  both  deserted  Henry  Clay  when  they  enlisted 
in  the  movement  which  gave  the  electoral  vote  of  Ken- 
tucky to  General  Jackson,  and  joined  in  the  cry  of 
"  bargain  and  corruption  "  raised  against  their  former 
friend.  It  is  related  that  the  first  interview  between 
Clay  and  Blair  after  this  desertion  was  a  very 
awkward  one  for  the  latter,  who  felt  that  he  had 
behaved  shabbily.  Clay  had  ridden  over  on  horseback 
from  Lexington  to  Frankfort,  in  the  winter  season,  on 
legal  business,  and  on  alighting  from  his  horse  at  the 
tavern  door  found  himself  confronting  Blair,  who  was 
just  leaving  the  house.  "  How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Blair  ?" 
inquired  the  great  commoner,  in  his  silvery  tones  and 
blandest  manner,  at  the  same  time  extending  his  hand. 
Blair  mechanically  took  the  tendered  hand,  but  was 
evidently  nonplussed,  and  at  length  said,  with  an  evi- 
dent effort,  "  Pretty  well,  I  thank  you,  sir.  How  did 
you  find  the  roads  from  Lexington  here  ?"  '*  The 
roads  are  very  bad,  Mr.  Blair,"  graciously  replied  Clay, 
"  very  bad ;  and  I  wish,  sir,  that  you  would  mend  your 
ways." 

Mr.  Blair  made  it  a  rule  to  defend  in  the  columns  of 


Slow  Moving  Mails.  105 

the  Globe  the  acts  of  Jackson's  Administration,  right  or 
wrong,  and  he  waged  merciless  warfare  against  those 
who  opposed  them.  When  Colonel  William  R.  King, 
of  Alabama,  once  begged  him  to  soften  an  attack  upon 
an  erring  Democrat,  Mr.  Blair  replied,  "  No !  let  it  tear 
his  heart  out."  With  all  his  political  insolence,  how- 
ever, he  possessed  remarkable  kindness,  and  a  more  in- 
dulgent father  and  truer  friend  was  never  known  in 
Washington. 

It  was  this  remarkable  combination  of  qualities 
which  gave  this  same  Mr.  Blair  a  peculiar  conspicuity 
near  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  Acting  solely  on  his 
own  responsibility,  he  went  to  Richmond,  where  he 
obtained  from  Jefferson  Davis,  his  personal  friend,  a 
letter  declaring  his  willingness  to  enter  into  an  official 
conference  for  the  restoration  of  peace.  This  led  to  the 
famous  Hampton  Roads  conference,  which  President 
Lincoln  attended  in  person,  meeting  several  distin- 
guished Southern  leaders,  but  it  did  not  produce  any 
direct  result  on  the  war. 

The  Washington  papers,  up  to  this  time,  contained 
very  little  of  what  has  since  been  known  as  local  news. 
A  parade,  an  inauguration,  or  the  funeral  of  a  distin- 
guished person  would  receive  brief  mention,  but  the 
pleasant  gossip  of  the  day  was  entirely  ignored,  and 
mail  facilities  were  poor.  It  was  then  necessary  for 
the  correspondent  of  a  paper  in  a  northern  city  to 
mail  his  letter  at  the  post-office  before  twelve  o'clock 
at  night  to  insure  its  departure  by  the  early  morning's 
mail  northward.  Letters  written  to  New  York  did  not, 
consequently,  appear  until  the  second  day  after  they 
were  written,  while  those  sent  to  Boston  rarely  ap- 
peared before  the  fourth  day.  The  people  then  were 
better  posted  as  to  what  transpired  at  the  Nation's 


io6  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

Capital  than  they  are  now,   when  dispatches   can  be 
sent  in  a  few  moments  at  any  time  of  day  or  night. 

Mrs.  Anne  Royall  began  an  enterprise  in  personal 
literature.  She  managed  to  secure  an  old  Raniage 
printing-press  and  a  font  of  battered  long-primer  type, 
with  which,  aided  by  runaway  apprentices  and  tramp- 
ing journeymen  printers,  she  published,  on  Capitol 
Hill,  for  several  years,  a  small  weekly  sheet  called  the 
Huntress.  Every  person  of  any  distinction  who  visited 
Washington  received  a  call  from  Mrs.  Royall,  and  if 
they  subscribed  for  the  Huntress  they  were  described 
in  the  next  number  in  a  complimentary  manner,  but  if 
they  declined  she  abused  them  without  mercy.  When 
young  she  was  a  short,  plump,  and  not  bad-looking 
woman,  but  as  she  advanced  in  years  her  flesh  disap- 
peared, and  her  nose  seemed  to  increase  in  size ;  but 
her  piercing  black  eyes  lost  none  of  their  fire,  while 
her  tongue  wagged  more  abusively  when  her  temper 
was  roused.  John  Quincy  Adams  described  her  as 
going  about  "  like  a  virago-errant  in  enchanted  armor, 
redeeming  herself  from  the  cramps  of  indigence  by 
the  notoriety  of  her  eccentricities  and  the  forced  cur- 
rency they  gave  to  her  publications." 

Mrs.  Royall's  tongue  at  last  became  so  unendurable 
that  she  was  formally  indicted  by  the  Grand  Jury  as  a 
common  scold,  and  was  tried  in  the  Circuit  Court  be- 
fore Judge  Cranch.  His  Honor  charged  the  jury  at 
length,  reviewing  the  testimony  and  showing  that,  if 
found  guilty,  she  must  be  ducked,  in  accordance  with 
the  Knglish  law  in  force  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
The  jury  found  her  guilty,  but  her  counsel  begged  his 
Honor,  the  Judge,  to  weigh  the  matter  and  not  be  the 
first  to  introduce  a  ducking-stool.  The  plea  prevailed 
and  she  was  let  off  with  a  fine. 


Early  "Society  Letters" 


107 


The  first  "  Society  Letters,"  as  they  are  called,  writ- 
ten from  Washington,  were  by  Nathaniel  P.  Willis,  to 
the  New  York  Mirror.  Willis  was  at  that  time  a  fop- 
pish, slender  young  man,  with  a  profusion  of  curly,  light 
hair,  and  was  always  dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion. 
He  had,  while  traveling  in  Europe,  mingled  with  the 
aristocratic  classes,  and  he  affected  to  look  down  upon 
the  masses ;  but  with  all  his  snobbishness  he  had  a 
wonderful  faculty  for 
endowing  trifling  oc- 
currences with  inter- 
est, and  his  letters 
have  never  been  sur- 
passed. He  possess- 
ed a  sunny  nature, 
full  of  poetry,  enthu- 
siasm, and  cheerful- 
ness, and  was  always 
willing  to  say  a  plea- 
sant word  for  those 
who  treated  him 
kindly,  and  never 
sought  to  retaliate 
on  his  enemies. 

Willis  first  introduced  steel  pens  at  Washington, 
having  brought  over  from  England  some  of  those 
made  by  Joseph  Gillott,  at  Birmingham.  Before  this 
goose-quill  pens  had  been  exclusively  used,  and  there 
was  in  each  House  of  Congress  and  in  each  Depart- 
ment a  penmaker,  who  knew  what  degree  of  flexibility 
and  breadth  of  point  each  writer  desired.  Every  gen- 
tleman had  to  carry  a  penknife,  and  to  have  in  his 
desk  a  hone  to  sharpen  it  on,  giving  the  finishing 
touches  on  one  of  his  boots.  Another  new  invention 


NATHANIEL  P.  WILLIS. 


io8  Per ley 's  Reminiscences. 

of  that  epoch  was  the  lucifer  match-box,  which  super- 
seded the  large  tin  tinder-box  with  its  flint  and  steel. 
The  matches  were  in  the  upper  portion  of  a  pasteboard 
case  about  an  inch  in  diameter  and  six  inches  in  length 
and  in  a  compartment  beneath  them  was  a.  bottle 
containing  a  chemical  preparation,  into  which  the 
brimstone-coated  end  of  the  match  was  dipped  and  thus 
ignited. 

The  Mayor  of  Washington,  during  a  portion  of 
the  Jackson  Administration,  was  Peter  Force,  a  noble 
specimen  of  those  who,  before  the  existence  of  trades 
unions,  used  to  serve  an  apprenticeship  to  the  "  art 
preservative  of  arts,"  and  graduate  from  the  printing- 
office  qualified  to  fill  any  political  position.  Fond  of 
American  history,  Mr.  Force,  while  printing  the  Bien- 
nial Register,  better  known  as  the  Blue  Book  from  the 
color  of  its  binding,  began  to  collect  manuscripts, 
books,  and  pamphlets,  many  of  which  had  been  thrown 
away  in  the  executive  departments  as  rubbish,  and 
were  purchased  by  him  from  the  dealers  in  waste  paper. 
In  1833  he  originated  the  idea  of  compiling  and  pub- 
lishing a  documentary  history  of  the  country,  under 
the  title  of  the  American  Archives,  and  issued  a  num- 
ber of  large  folio  volumes,  the  profits  going  to  the 
politicians  who  secured  the  necessary  appropriations 
from  Congress.  He  was  emphatically  a  gentleman — 
tall,  stalwart,  with  bushy  black  hair,  and  large,  expres- 
sive eyes,  which  would  beam  with  joy  whenever  a 
friend  brought  him  a  rare  autograph  or  pamphlet. 

Assemblies  were  held  once  a  week  between  Christ" 
mas  Day  and  Ash  Wednesday,  to  which  all  of  the 
respectable  ladies  of  the  city  who  danced  were  invited. 
It  was  also  customary  for  those  of  the  Cabinet  officers 
and  other  high  officials  who  kept  house  to  give  at  least 


Customs  at  Parties.  109 

one  evening  party  during  each  session  of  Congress, 
invitations  for  which  were  issued.  The  guests  at  these 
parties  used  to  assemble  at  about  eight  o'clock,  and 
after  taking  off  their  wraps  in  an  upper  room  they 
descended  to  the  parlor,  where  the  host  and  hostess 
received  them.  The  older  men  then  went  to  the  punch- 
bowl to  criticise  the  "  brew  "  which  it  contained,  while 
the  young  people  found  their  way  to  the  dining-room, 
almost  invariably  devoted  to  dancing.  The  music  was 
a  piano  and  two  violins,  and  one  of  the  musicians 
called  the  figures  for  the  cotillions  and  contra-dances. 
Those  who  did  not  dance  elbowed  their  way  through 
the  crowd,  conversing  with  acquaintances,  the  men 
frequently  taking  another  glass  of  punch.  At  ten  the 
guests  were  invited  to  the  supper-table,  which  was  often 
on  the  wide  back  porch  which  every  Washington  house 
had  in  those  days.  The  table  was  always  loaded  with 
evidences  of  the  culinary  skill  of  the  lady  of  the  house. 
There  was  a  roast  ham  at  one  end,  a  saddle  of  venison 
or  mutton  at  the  other  end,  and  some  roasted  poultry  or 
wild  ducks  midway ;  a  great  variety  of  home-baked 
cake  was  a  source  of  pride,  and  there  was  never  any 
lack  of  punch,  with  decanters  of  Madeira.  The  diplo- 
mats gave  champagne,  but  it  was  seldom  seen  except 
at  the  legations.  At  eleven  there  was  a  general 
exodus,  and  after  the  usual  scramble  for  hats,  cloaks, 
and  over-shoes  the  guests  entered  their  carriages. 
Sometimes  a  few  intimate  friends  of  the  hostess  lin- 
gered to  enjoy  a  contra-dance  or  to  take  a  parting 
drink  of  punch,  but  by  midnight  the  last  guest  de- 
parted, and  the  servants  began  to  blow  out  the  candles 
with  which  the  house  had  been  illuminated. 

In  Jackson's  first .  Administration  the  country  was 
shocked  by  the  appearance  of  a  book  entitled,     The 


no  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

Domestic  Manners  of  Americans,  by  Mrs.  Frances 
Trollope.  She  was  a  bright  little  Englishwoman,  who 
had  come  to  this  country  and  established  a  bazaar  at 
Cincinnati,  which  proved  a  failure.  So  she  sought 
revenge  and  wealth  by  a  caricature  sketch  of  our  pio- 
neer life,  founded  on  fact,  but  very  unpalatable.  Ex- 
pectoration was  her  pet  abomination,  and  she  was  in- 
clined to  think  that  this  "  most  vile  and  universal  habit 
of  chewing  tobacco "  was  the  cause  of  a  remarkable 
peculiarity  in  the  male  physiognomy  of  Americans,  the 
almost  uniform  thinness  and  compression  of  their  lips. 
So  often  did  Mrs.  Trollope  recur  to  this  habit  that  she 
managed  to  give  one  the  impression  that  this  country 
was  in  those  days  a  sort  of  huge  spittoon. 

Mrs.  Trollope  first  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  American  women  did  not  consult  the  season  in 
either  the  colors  or  style  of  their  costumes,  never 
wore  boots,  and  walked  in  the  middle  of  winter  with 
their  pretty  little  feet  pinched  into  miniature  slippers 
incapable  of  excluding  as  much  moisture  as  might 
bedew  a  primrose. 

Removals  from  office  that  places  might  be  provided 
for  Jackson  men  were  the  order  of  the  day,  but  Presi- 
dent Jackson  was  not  disposed  to  displace  any  veteran 
soldier.  Among  other  victims  designated  for  removal 
by  the  politicians  was  General  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer, 
whose  gallant  services  against  Great  Britain  in  the  War 
of  1812  had  been  rewarded  by  an  election  to  the  House 
of  Representatives,  followed  by  his  appointment  as 
Postmaster  of  Albany.  He  was  a  decided  Federalist, 
and  the  petition  for  his  removal  was  headed  by  Martin 
Van  Buren  and  Silas  Wright. 

Visiting  Washington,  General  Van  Rensselaer  re- 
ceived a  cordial  greeting  from  General  Jackson  at  a 


Wounds   Win  the  Day.  in 

public  reception,  and  then,  taking  a  seat  in  a  corner,  he 
waited  until  the  room  was  cleared,  when  he  again 
approached  the  President,  saying :  "  General  Jackson, 
I  have  come  here  to  talk  to  you  about  my  office.  The 
politicians  want  to  take  it  from  me,  and  they  know  I 
have  nothing  else  to  live  upon."  The  President  made 
no  reply,  till  the  aged  Postmaster  began  to  take  off  his 
coat  in  the  most  excited  manner,  when  Old  Hickory 
broke  out  with  the  inquiry  :  '  What  in  Heaven's  name 
are  you  going  to  do  ?  Why  do  you  take  off  your  coat 
here  ?"  "  Well,  sir,  I  am  going  to  show  you  my 
wounds,  which  I  received  in  fighting  for  my  country 
against  the  English  !"  "  Put  it  on  at  once,  sir  !"  was 
the  reply  ;  "  I  am  surprised  that  a  man  of  your  age 
should  make  such  an  exhibition  of  himself,"  and  the 
eyes  of  the  iron  President  were  suffused  with  tears,  as, 
without  another  word,  he  bade  his  ancient  foe  good 
evening. 

The  next  day  Messrs.  Van  Buren  and  Wright  called 
at  the  White  House  and  were  shown  up  into  the  Presi- 
dent's room,  where  they  found  him  smoking  a  clay 
pipe.  Mr.  Wright  soon  commenced  to  solicit  the  re- 
moval of  General  Van  Rensselaer,  asserting  that  he 
had  been  known  as  a  very  active  advocate  of  John 
Quincy  Adams ;  that  he  had  literally  forfeited  his 
place  by  his  earnest  opposition  to  the  Jackson  men, 
and  that  if  he  were  not  removed  the  new  Administration 
would  be  seriously  injured.  He  had  hardly  finished 
the  last  sentence,  when  Jackson  sprang  to  his  feet, 
flung  his  pipe  into  the  fire,  and  exclaimed  with  great 
vehemence,  "  I  take  the  consequences,  sir ;  I  take  the 
consequences.  By  the  Eternal  1  I  will  not  remove  the 
old  man — I  cannot  remove  him.  Why,  Mr.  Wright, 
do  you  not  know  that  he  carries  more  than  a  pound  of 


112 


Perley>s  Reminiscences. 


British  lead  in  his  body  ?"  That  settled  the  question, 
and  General  Van  Rensselaer  remained  undisturbed  as 
Postmaster  at  Albany  through  the  Jackson  Adminis- 
tration, although  Martin  Van  Buren,  when  he  came 
into  power,  promptly  "  bounced  "  him. 

General  Jackson's  defiant  disposition  was  manifested 
when,  in  a  message  to  Congress,  he  recommended  that 
a  law  be  passed  authorizing  reprisals  upon  French 


FAMOUS  EAST  ROOM  OF  THE  WHITE   HOUSE. 

property  in  case  provision  should  not  be  made  for  the 
payment  of  the  long-standing  claims  against  France 
at  the  approaching  session  of  the  French  Chambers. 
Some  of  his  Cabin  2t,  having  deemed  this  language  too 
strong,  had  prevailed  upon  the  President's  private  sec- 
retary, Major  Donelson,  to  modify  it,  and  to  make  it 
less  irritating  and  menacing.  No  sooner  was  it  dis- 
covered by  General  Jackson  than  he  flew  into  a 
great  excitement,  and  when  Mr.  Rives  entered  his 


French  Spoliation  Claims.  113 

private  office  to  obtain  it  for  printing,  he  found  the  old 
General  busily  engaged  in  re-writing  it  according  to 
the  original  copy.  "  I  know  them  French,"  said  he. 
"  They  won't  pay  unless  they're  made  to." 

The  French  people  were  indignant  when  this  mes- 
sage reached  Paris,  and  when  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
finally  provided  for  the  payment  of  the  claims,  a  pro- 
viso was  inserted  ordering  the  money  to  be  withheld 
until  the  President  of  the  United  States  had  apologized 
for  the  language  used.  This  General  Jackson  flatly 
refused  to  do,  and  the  "  Ancient  Allies  "  of  the  Revo- 
lution were  on  the  verge  of  hostilities,  when  both 
nations  agreed  to  submit  their  differences  to  Great 
Britain.  The  affair  was  speedily  arranged,  and  France 
paid  five  millions  of  dollars  for  French  spoliations  into 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  where  it  has  since 
remained. 


SILAS  WRIGHT,  JR.,  was  born  at  Amherst,  Massachusetts,  May  24th,  1793 :  was  a  Representative 
from  New  York  in  Congress,  1827-1829  ;  Comptroller  of  New  York,  1829-18^3;  United  States  Sen- 
ator, 1833-1844 ;  Governor  of  New  York,  1844-1846 ;  retired  to  his  farm  at  Canton,  New  York,  ami 
died  there,  August  27th,  1847. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

BATTLE  OF  THE  GIANTS. 

THE  GREAT  SENATORIAL  DEBATE — ATTACK  ON  NEW  ENGLAND — WEB- 
STER'S REPLY  TO  HAYNE — NULLIFICATION  NIPPED  IN  THE  BUD— 
SOCIETY  IN  JACKSON'S  DAY — MRS.  GENERAL  EATON — A  CHIVALROUS 
PRESIDENT — THEATRICALS — THE  GREAT  TRAGEDIAN — MINORAMUSE- 
MENTS — EXECUTIVE  CHARITY — SWARTWOUTING — THE  STAR-SPAN- 
GLED BANNER. 

AN  unimportant  resolution  concerning  the  public 
lands,  introduced  into  the  Senate  early  in  1830 
by  Senator  Foote,  of  Connecticut  (the  father 
of  Admiral  Foote),  led  to  a  general  debate,  which  has 
been  since  known  as  "  the  battle  of  the  giants."  The 
discussion  embraced  all  the  partisan  issues  of  the  time, 
especially  those  of  a  sectional  nature,  including  the 
alleged  rights  of  a  State  to  set  the  Federal  Government 
at  defiance.  The  State  Rights  men  in  South  Carolina, 
instigated  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  had  been  active  during  the 
preceding  summer  in  collecting  material  for  this  dis- 
cussion, and  they  had  taken  especial  pains  to  request  a 
search  for  evidence  that  Mr.  Webster  had  shown  a  will- 
ingness to  have  New  England  secede  from  the  Union 
during  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain.  The  vicinity 
of  Portsmouth,  where  he  had  resided  when  he  entered 
public  life,  was,  to  use  his  own  words,  "searched  as  with 
a  candle.  New  Hampshire  was  explored  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Merrimack  to  the  White  Hills." 

Nor  had  Mr.  Webster  been  idle.     He  was  not  an  ex- 
114 


Webster  and  Hayne 


temporaneous  speaker,  and  he  passed  the  summer  in 
carefully  studying,  in  his  intervals  of  professional 
duties,  the  great  constitutional  question  which  he  after- 
ward so  brilliantly  discussed.  A  story  is  told  at  Provi- 
dence about  a  distinguished  lawyer  of  that  place — Mr. 
John  Whipple — who  was  at  Washington  when  Webster 
replied  to  Hayne,  but  who  did  not  hear  the  speech,  as 
he  was  engaged  in  a  case  before  the  Supreme  Court 
when  it  was  delivered. 
When  a  report  of 
what  Mr.  Webster  had 
said  appeared  in  print, 
Mr.  Whipple  read  it, 
and  was  haunted  by 
the  idea  that  he  had 
heard  or  read  it  be- 
fore. Meeting  Mr. 
Webster  soon  after- 
ward, he  mentioned 
this  idea  to  him  and 
inquired  whether  it 
could  possibly  have 
any  foundation  in  fact. 
"Certainly  it  has,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Webster. 

"  Don't  you  remember  our  conversations  during  the 
long  walks  we  took  together  last  summer  at  Newport, 
while  in  attendance  on  Story's  court?"  It  flashed 
across  Mr.  Whipple's  mind  that  Mr.  Webster  had  then 
rehearsed  the  legal  argument  of  his  speech  and  had 
invited  criticism. 

As  the  debate  on  the  Foote  resolution  progressed,  it 
revealed  an  evident  intention  to  attack  New  England, 
and  especially  Massachusetts.  This  brought  Mr.  Web- 


DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


n6 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


ter  into  the  arena,  and  he  concluded  a  brief  speech  by 
declaring  that,  as  a  true  representative  of  the  State 
which  had  sent  him  into  the  Senate,  it  was  his  duty, 
and  a  duty  which  he  should  fulfill,  to  place  her  history 
and  her  conduct,  her  honor  and  her  character,  in  their 
just  and  proper  light.  A  few  days  later,  Mr.  Webster 
heard  his  State  and  himself  mercilessly  attacked  by 
General  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  no  mean  antago- 
nist. The  son  of  a 
Revolutionary  hero 
who  had  fallen  a  vic- 
tim to  British  cruelty, 
highly  educated,  with 
a  slender,  graceful 
form,  fascinating  de- 
portment, and  a  well- 
trained,  mellifluous 
voice,  the  haughty 
South  Carolinian  en- 
tered the  lists  of  the 
political  tournament 
like  Saladin  to  oppose 
the  Yankee  Cceur  de 


GENERAL  ROBERT   Y.  HAYNE. 


Lion. 


When  Mr.  Webster 

went  to  the  Senate  Chamber  to  reply  to  General  Hayne, 
on  Tuesday,  January  2oth,  1830,  he  felt  himself 
master  of  the  situation.  Always  careful  about  his 
personal  appearance  when  he  was  to  address  an  audi- 
ence, he  wore  on  that  day  the  Whig  uniform,  which 
had  been  copied  by  the  Revolutionary  heroes — a  blue 
dress-coat  with  bright  buttons,  a  buff  waistcoat,  and 
a  high,  white  cravat.  Neither  was  he  insensible  to 
the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  publicity,  and  he  had 


n8  Perley  s  Reminiscences. 

sent  a  request  to  Mr.  Gales  to  report  what  he  was  to 
say  himself,  rather  than  to  send  one  of  his  stenog- 
raphers. The  most  graphic  account  of  the  scene  in 
the  Senate  Chamber  during  the  delivery  of  the  speech 
was  subsequently  written  virtually  from  Mr.  Webster's 
dictation.  Perhaps,  like  Mr.  Healy's  picture  of  the 
scene,  it  is  rather  high-colored. 

Sheridan,  after  his  forty  days'  preparation,  did  not 
commence  his  scathing  impeachment  of  Warren  Hast- 
ings with  more  confidence  than  was  displayed  by  Mr. 
Webster  when  he  stood  up,  in  the  pride  of  his  man- 
hood, and  began  to  address  the  interested  mass  of 
talent,  intelligence,  and  beauty  around  him.  A  man 
of  commanding  presence,  with  a  well-knit,  sturdy 
frame,  swarthy  features,  a  broad,  thoughtful  forehead, 
courageous  eyes  gleaming  from  beneath  shaggy  eye- 
brows, a  quadrangular  breadth  of  jawbone,  and  a  mouth 
which  bespoke  strong  will,  he  stood  like  a  sturdy 
Roundhead  sentinel  on  guard  before  the  gates  of  the 
Constitution.  Holding  in  profound  contempt  what  is 
termed  spread-eagle  oratory,  his  only  gesticulations 
were  up-and-down  motions  of  his  arm,  as  if  he  was 
beating  out  with  sledge-hammers  his  forcible  ideas. 
His  peroration  was  sublime,  and  every  loyal  American 
heart  has  since  echoed  the  last  words,  "  Liberty  and 
union — now  and  forever — one  and  inseparable!" 

Mr.  Webster's  speech,  carefully  revised  by  himself, 
was  not  published  until  the  23d  of  February,  and  large 
editions  of  it  were  circulated  throughout  the  Northern 
States.  The  debate  was  continued,  and  it  was  the  2ist 
of  May  before  Colonel  Benton,  who  had  been  the  first 
defamer  of  New  England,  brought  it  to  a  close.  The 
Northern  men  claimed  for  Mr.  Webster  the  superiority, 
but  General  Jackson  praised  the  speech  of  Mr.  Hayne, 


Jackson  on  State  Rights.  119 

and  deemed  his  picture  worthy  to  occupy  a  place  in  the 
White  House,  thus  giving  expression  to  the  general 
sentiment  among  the  Southerners.  This  alarmed  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  who  was  quietly  yet  shrewdly  at  work  to 
defeat  the  further  advancement  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and 
he  lost  no  time  in  demonstrating  to  the  imperious  old 
soldier  who  occupied  the  Presidential  chair  that  the 
South  Carolina  doctrine  of  nullification  could  but 
prove  destructive  to  the  Union. 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  not  aware  of  this  intrigue,  and,  in 
order  to  strengthen  his  State  Rights  policy,  he  organized 
a  public  dinner  on  the  anniversary  of  Jefferson's  birth- 
day, April  1 3th,  1830.  When  the  toasts  which  were  to 
be  proposed  were  made  public  in  advance,  according  to 
the  custom,  it  was  discovered  that  several  of  them  were 
strongly  anti-tariff  and  State  Rights  in  sentiment — so 
much  so  that  a  number  of  Pennsylvania  tariff  Demo- 
crats declined  to  attend,  and  got  up  a  dinner  of  their 
own.  General  Jackson  attended  the  dinner,  but  he 
went  late  and  retired  early,  leaving  a  volunteer  toast, 
which  he  had  carefully  prepared  at  the  White  House, 
and  which  fell  like  a  damper  upon  those  at  the  dinner, 
while  it  electrified  the  North,  "  The  Federal  Union — 
it  must  and  shall  be  maintained !"  This  toast,  which 
could  not  be  misunderstood,  showed  that  General  Jack- 
son would  not  permit  himself  to  be  placed  in  the  atti- 
tude of  a  patron  of  doctrines  which  could  lead  only  to 
a  dissolution  of  the  Federal  Government.  But  the 
Committee  on  Arrangements  toned  it  down,  so  that  it 
appeared  in  the  official  report  of  the  dinner,  "  Our 
Federal  Union — it  must  be  preserved !" 

This  was  a  severe  blow  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  had 
labored  earnestly  to  break  down  Mr.  Adams'  Adminis- 
tration, without  respect  to  its  measures,  that  a  Demo- 


I2O  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

cratic  party  might  be  built  up  which  would  first  elect 
General  Jackson,  and  then  recognize  Calhoun  as  legiti- 
mate successor  to  the  Presidential  chair.  His  discom- 
fiture was  soon  completed  by  the  publication  of  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Crawford,  which  informed  the  President  that 
Calhoun,  when  in  the  Cabinet  of  Monroe,  proposed  that 
"  General  Jackson  should  be  punished  in  some  form  " 
for  his  high-handed  military  rule  in  Florida.  Van 
Buren  secretly  fanned  the  flames  of  General  Jackson's 
indignation,  and  adroitly  availed  himself  of  a  "  tempest 
in  a  tea-pot  "  to  complete  the  downfall  of  his  rival. 

The  woman  used  as  a  tool  by  Mr.  Van  Buren  for  the 
overthrow  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  political  hopes  was  a  pic- 
turesque and  prominent  figure  in  Washington  society 
then  and  during  the  next  fifty  years.  The  National 
Metropolis  in  those  days  resembled,  as  has  been  well 
said,  in  recklessness  and  extravagance,  the  spirit  of  the 
.English  seventeenth  century,  so  graphically  portrayed 
in  Thackeray ^s  Htimorist,  rather  than  the  dignified  caste 
of  the  nineteenth  cycle  of  Christianity.  Laxity  of 
morals  and  the  coolest  disregard  possible  characterized 
that  period  of  our  existence. 

Mrs.  General  Eaton  ruled  Andrew  Jackson  as  com- 
pletely as  he  ruled  the  Democratic  party.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  William  O'Neill,  a  rollicking  Irishman, 
who  was  in  his  day  the  landlord  of  what  was  then  the 
leading  public  house  in  Washington  City.  Among 
other  Congressmen  who  were  guests  there  was  Andrew 
Jackson,  then  a  Senator  from  Tennessee.  It  was  here 
he  became  interested  in  the  landlord's  brilliant 
daughter  Margaret,  called  by  her  friends  "  Peg  " 
O'Neill.  Before  she  was  sixteen  years  of  age  she 
married  a  handsome  naval  officer,  John  Bowie  Timber- 
lake.  He  died — some  say  that  he  committed  suicide — 


Attack  on  Jackson. 


121 


at  Port  Mahon,  in  1828,  leaving  his  accounts  as  purser 
in  a  very  mixed  condition.  •  After  the  death  of  Timber- 
lake,  Commodore  Patterson  ordered  Lieutenant  Ran- 
dolph to  take  the  purser's  books  and  perform  the  duties 


LIEUTENANT   RANDOLPH'S  ATTACK  ON   JACKSON. 

of  purser.  On  the  return  home  of  the  Constitution  it 
was  discovered  that  Timberlake  or  Randolph  was  a 
defaulter  to  the  Government  to  a  very  large  amount. 
A  court  of  inquiry  was  held  on  Randolph  and  he  was 


122  Per  ley's   Reminiscences. 

acquitted,  but  Amos  Kendall,  the  Fourth  Auditor  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  charged  the  defalcation  to 
Randolph.  President  Jackson,  notwithstanding  the 
decision  of  the  court,  dismissed  Lieutenant  Randolph 
from  the  Navy,  and  refused  to  give  him  a  hearing. 

The  Lieutenant,  infuriated  by  disgrace  and  pecuniary 
ruin,  in  a  state  of  excitement  pulled  the  President's 
nose  in  the  cabin  of  a  steamboat  at  the  Alexandria 
wharf.  He  was  immediately  seized  and  thrust  on  shore, 
the  President  declaring  that  he  was  able  to  punish  him. 
He  charged  that  Jackson  dismissed  him  and  sustained 
Kendall's  decision  in  order  to  save  General  Baton,  who 
was  Timberlake's  bondsman,  from  having  to  make 
good  the  defalcation. 

General  Baton,  who  had  boarded  with  his  friend, 
General  Jackson,  at  O'Neill's  tavern,  soon  afterward 
married  the  Widow  Timberlake,  who  was  then  one  of 
those  examples  of  that  Irish  beauty,  which,  marked  by 
good  blood,  so  suggests  both  the  Greek  and  the  Span- 
iard, and  yet  at  times  presents  a  combination  which 
transcends  both.  Her  form,  of  medium  height, 
straight  and  delicate,  was  of  perfect  proportions.  Her 
skin  was  of  that  delicate  white,  tinged  with  red,  which 
one  often  sees  among  even  the  poorer  inhabitants  of 
the  Green  Isle.  Her  dark  hair,  very  abundant,  clustered 
in  curls  about  her  broad,  expressive  forehead.  Her 
perfect  nose,  of  almost  Grecian  proportions,  and  finely 
curved  mouth,  with  a  firm,  round  chin,  completed  a 
profile  of  faultless  outlines.  She  was  in  Washington 
City  what  Aspasia  was  in  Athens — the  cynosure  by 
whose  reflected  radiance 

"  Beauty  lent  her  smile  to  wit, 
And  learning  by  her  star  was  lit." 

General  Jackson  had  come  to  Washington  with  a  sad 


Mrs.   General  Eaton. 


123 


heart,  breathing  vengeance  against  those  who  had  de« 
famed  his  wife  during  the  Presidential  canvass,  thereby, 
as  he  thought,  hastening  her  death.  This  made  him 
the  sworn  and  unyielding  foe  of  all  slanderers  of 
women,  and  when  some  of  the  female  tabbies  of  the 
Capital  began  to  drag  the  name  of  his  old  friend 
"  Peg,"  then  the  wife  of  General  Baton,  through 
the  mire,  he  was  naturally  indignant,  and  showed  his 
respect  for  her  by  hav- 
ing her  a  frequent 
guest  at  the  White 
House.  Enchanting, 
ambitious,  and  un- 
scrupulous, she  soon 
held  the  old  hero  com- 
pletely under  her  in- 
fluence, and  carried 
her  griefs  to  him.  Mr. 
Van  Buren  adroitly 
seconded  her,  and  the 
gallant  old  soldier 
swore  "  by  the  Eter- 
nal" that  the  scandal- 
mongers who  had  em- 
bittered the  last  years 

of  his  beloved  wife,  Rachel,  should  not  triumph  ovet 
his  "little  friend  Peg." 

This  was  Van  Buren's  opportunity.  He  was  a  wid- 
ower, keeping  house  at  Washington,  and  as  Secretary 
of  State  he  was  able  to  form  an  alliance  with  the  bach- 
elor Ministers  of  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  each  of 
whom  had  spacious  residences.  A  series  of  dinners, 
balls,  and  suppers  was  inaugurated  at  these  three 
houses »  and  at  each  successive  entertainment  Mrs. 


MRS.  EATON  AT  SIXTY-FOUR. 


124  Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

Baton  was  the  honored  guest,  who  led  the  contra- 
dance,  and  occupied  the  seat  at  table  on  the  right  of  the 
host.  Some  respectable  ladies  were  so  shocked  by  her 
audacity  that  they  would  leave  a  room  when  she 
entered  it.  She  was  openly  denounced  by  clergymen, 
and  she  found  herself  in  positions  which  would  have 
covered  almost  any  other  woman  in  Washington  with 
shame.  Mrs.  Baton,  who  apparently  did  not  possess  a 
scruple  as  to  the  propriety  of  her  course,  evidently 
enjoyed  the  situation,  and  used  to  visit  General  Jackson 
every  day  with  a  fresh  story  of  the  insults  paid  her. 
Yet  she  gave  no  evidences  of  diplomacy  nor  of  political 
sagacity,  but  was  a  mere  beautiful,  passionate,  impul- 
sive puppet,  held  up  by  General  Jackson,  while  Mr. 
Van  Buren  adroitly  pulled  the  strings  that  directed  her 
movements. 

Mr.  Calhoun,  whose  wife  was  foremost  among  those 
ladies  who  positively  refused  to  associate  with  Mrs. 
Baton,  said  to  a  friend  of  General  Jackson's,  who 
endeavored  to  effect  a  reconciliation,  that  u  the  quarrels 
of  women,  like  those  of  the  Medes  and  Persians, 
admitted  of  neither  inquiry  nor  explanation."  He 
knew  well,  however,  that  it  was  no  women's  quarrel, 
but  a  political  game  of  chess  played  by  men  who  were 
using  women  as  their  pawns,  and  he  lost  the  game. 
Van  Buren  and  Baton  next  tendered  their  resignations 
as  Cabinet  officers,  which  General  Jackson  refused  to 
accept ;  whereupon  the  Cabinet  officers  whose  wives 
declined  to  call  on  Mrs.  Baton  resigned,  and  their  res- 
ignations were  promptly  accepted.  The  whole  city 
was  in  a  turmoil.  Angry  men  walked  about  with 
bludgeons,  seeking  "  satisfaction  ;"  duels  were  talked 
of ;  old  friendships  were  severed ;  and  every  fresh 
indignity  offered  his  "  little  friend  Peg  "  endeared  her 


The  Great  Tragedian. 


125 


the  more  to  General  Jackson,  who  was  duly  grateful  to 
Van  Buren  for  having  espoused  her  cause.  "  It  is  odd 
enough,"  wrote  Daniel  Webster  to  a  personal  friend, 
"  that  the  consequences  of  this  dispute  in  the  social 
and  fashionable  world  are  producing  great  political 
effects,  and  may  very  probably  determine  who  shall  be 
successor  to  the  present  Chief  Magistrate." 

Junius  Brutus  Booth  was  the  delight  of  the  Wash- 
ington playgoers  in 
the  Jackson  Adminis- 
tration. His  wonder- 
ful impersonations  of 
Richard  III.  lago, 
King  Lear,  Othello, 
Shylock,  and  Sir 
Giles  Overreach  were 
as  grand  as  his  private 
life  was  intemperate 
and  eccentric.  He  was 
a  short,  dumpy  man, 
with  features  resem- 
bling those  of  the 
Roman  Emperors,  be- 
fore his  nose  was 
broken  in  a  quarrel, 
and  his  deportment  on  the  stage  was  imperially  grand. 
He  had  a  farm  in  Maryland,  and  at  one  time  he  under- 
took to  supply  a  Washington  hotel  with  eggs,  milk, 
and  chickens,  but  he  soon  gave  it  up.  His  instant  and 
tremendous  concentration  of  passion  in  his  delineations 
overwhelmed  his  audience  and  wrought  it  into  such  en- 
thusiasm that  it  partook  of  the  fever  of  inspiration 
surging  through  his  own  veins.  He  was  not  lacking 
in  the  power  to  comprehend  and  portray  with  marvelous 


JUNIUS  BRUTUS  BOOTH. 


126  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

and  exquisite  delicacy  the  subtle  shades  of  character 
that  Shakespeare  loved  to  paint,  and  his  impersonations 
were  a  delight  to  the  refined  scholar  as  well  as  the 
uncultivated  backwoodsmen  who  crowded  to  his  per- 
formances. 

The -Washington  Theatre  was  not  well  patronized, 
but  the  strolling  proprietors  of  minor  amusements 
reaped  rich  harvests  of  small  silver  coin.  The  circus 
paid  its  annual  visit,  to  the  joy  of  the  rural  Congress- 
men and  the  negroes,  who  congregated  around  its  saw- 
dust ring,  applauding  each  successive  act  of  horseman- 
ship and  laughing  at  the  repetition  of  the  clown's  old 
jokes ;  a  daring  rope-dancer,  named  Herr  Cline,  per- 
formed his  wonderful  feats  on  the  tight  rope  and  on  the 
slack  wire ;  Finn  gave  annual  exhibitions  of  fancy 
glass-blowing ;  and  every  one  went  to  see  "  the  living 
skeleton,"  a  tall,  emaciated  young  fellow  named  Calvin 
Edson,  compared  with  whom  Shakespeare's  starved 
apothecary  was  fleshy. 

General  Jackson  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  numerous 
applications  made  to  him  for  charity.  At  one  time 
when  he  was  President  a  large  number  of  Irish  immi- 
grants were  at  work  on  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal 
in  Georgetown,  and,  the  weather  being  very  hot,  many 
of  them  were  prostrated  by  sunstroke  and  bilious 
diseases.  They  were  without  medical  aid,  the  necessi- 
ties of  life,  or  any  shelter  except  the  shanties  in  which 
they  were  crowded.  Their  deplorable  condition  led  to 
the  formation  of  a  society  of  Irish-Americans,  with  the 
venerable  Mr.  McLeod,  a  noted  instructor,  as  president. 
A  committee  from  this  Society  waited  on  the  President 
for  aid,  and  Mr.  McLeod  made  known  the  object  of 
their,  visit.  General  Jackson  interrupted  him  by  say- 
ing that  he  "  entirely  disapproved  of  the  Society ;  that 


Who  Owns  the  Spoils? 

the  fact  of  its  existence  would  induce  these  fellows  to 
come  one  hundred  miles  to  get  the  benefit  of  it ;  that 
if  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  were  at  his  dis- 
posal it  could  not  meet  the  demands  that  were  daily 
made  upon  him,  and  he  would  not  be  driven  from  the 
White  House  a  beggar-man,  like  old  Jim  Monroe." 


JAMES  MONROE. 

Colonel  Samuel  Swartwout,  of  Hoboken,  was  an  old 
personal  friend  of  General  Jackson,  and  when  "  the 
Hickory  Broom  "  began  to  sweep  out  the  old  office- 
holders, in  obedience  to  the  maxim,  "To  the  victors  be- 
long the  spoils,"  the  Colonel  was  an  applicant  for 
the  then  lucrative  position  of  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
New  York.  Van  Buren  was  against  him,  and  used 
many  arguments  with  Jackson  to  prevent  the  appoint- 


128  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

ment ;  but,  after  a  patient  hearing,  Old  Hickory  closed 
.the  case  by  bringing  his  fist  down  upon  the  table 
and  exclaiming:  "  By  the  Bternal !  Sam.  Swartwout 
shall  be  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York  !"  He  was 
appointed  and  became  the  prey  of  political  swindlers, 
spending  the  public  moneys  right  regally  until  his 
accounts  were  overhauled,  and  he  "  Swartwouted  "  (to 
use  a  word  coined  at  the  time)  to  avoid  a  criminal 
prosecution.  He  remained  abroad  for  many  years,  and 
I  think  died  in  Europe. 

Francis  S.  Key  was'  United  States  Attorney  for  the 
district  of  Washington  during  the  Jackson  Administra- 
tion. He  was  a  small,  active  man,  having  an  earnest 
and  even  anxious  expression  of  countenance,  as  if  care 
sat  heavily  upon  him.  In  composing  the  heroic  song 
of  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  after  he  had  witnessed 
the  unsuccessful  night  attack  of  the  British  on  Fort 
McHenry,  he,  in  a  measure,  associated  himself  with 
the  glory  of  his  country.  He  was  a  man  of  very 
ardent  religious  character,  and  some  of  the  most  poetic 
and  popular  of  the  hymns  used  in  religious  worship 
were  from  his  pen. 


DANIEL  WEBSTER  was  born  at  Salisbury,  New  Hampshire,  January  i8th,  1782 ;  was  a  Representa- 
tive from  New  Hampshire  in  Congress,  1813-1817,  and  removing  to  Boston,  a  Representative  from 
Massachusetts,  1823-1827;  United  States  Senator,  1827-1841;  Secretary  ot  State  under  Presidents 
Harrison  and  Tyler,  1841-1843;  United  States  Senator,  1845-1850;  Secretary  of  State  under  Presi- 
dent Fillmore  from  1850  until  his  death  at  Marshfield,  Massachusetts,  October  i4th,  1853. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    STAMPING   OUT   OF    NULLIFICATION. 

REJECTION  OP  MARTIN  VAN  BUREN — THE  WAR  AGAINST  THE  UNITED 
STATES  BANK — NICK  BIDDLE,  OP  THE  BANK — RE-ELECTION  OF  GEN- 
ERAL JACKSON — FINANCIAL  DEBATES  IN  THE  SENATE— CALHOUN, 
OP  SOUTH  CAROLINA — SECESSION  STAMPED  OUT— UNION  PROCLAMA- 
TION— THE  EXPUNGING  RESOLUTION— A  SENATORIAL  SCENE— AN 
APPEAL  FROM  THE  CHAIR. 

THE  rejection  by  the  Senate  of  the  nomination  of 
Martin  Van  Buren  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
to  Great  Britain,  was  an  act  of  retributive 
justice,  carried  out  on  the  very  spot  where,  five 
years  before,  he  had  formed  the  combination  which 
overthrew  the  Administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 
John  C.  Calhoun,  who  was  the  organizer  of  the  re- 
jection of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  thought  that  he  had  ob- 
tained pledges  of  a  sufficient  number  of  votes ;  but 
just  before  the  ayes  and  noes  were  called  Mr.  Webster 
left  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  going  down  into  the 
Supreme  Court  room  remained  there  until  the  vote  had 
been  taken.  Mr.  Calhoun  consequently  found  himself 
one  vote  short,  and  had  to  give  the  casting  vote,  as 
President  of  the  Senate,  which  rejected  the  nomination 
of  his  rival,  who  was  already  in  England,  where  he 
had  been  received  with  marked  attention. 

Returning  to  the  United  States,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was 
warmly  welcomed  at  the  White  House  as  a  victim  of 
Mr.  Calhoun's  opposition  to  the  President,  and  he  was 
9  129 


130  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

soon  recognized  by  the  Democratic  party  as  their  heir- 
apparent  to  the  Presidency.  His  appearance  at  that 
time  was  impressive.  He  was  short,  solidly  built,  with 
a  bald  head,  and  with  bushy  side-whiskers,  which 
framed  his  florid  features.  He  added  the  grace  and 
polish  of  aristocratic  Bnglish  society  to  his  natural 
courtesy,  and  it  was  his  evident  aim  never  to  provoke 
a  controversy,  while  he  used  every  exertion  to  win  new 
friends  and  to  retain  old  ones.  After  he  had  been 
elected  Vice-President,  he  sat  day  after  day  in  the  chair 
of  the  Senate,  apparently  indifferent  alike  to  the  keen 
thrusts  of  Calhoun,  the  savage  blows  of  Webster,  and 
the  gibes  of  Clay.  He  well  knew  that  General  Jack- 
son would  regard  every  assault  on  him  as  aimed  at  the 
Administration,  and  that  his  chances  for  the  succession 
would  thereby  be  strengthened.  Charges  of  political 
chicanery  were  brought  against  him  in  shapes  more 
varied  than  those  of  Proteus  and  thick  as  the  leaves 
that  strew  the  vale  of  Valombrosa ;  but  he  inva- 
riably extricated  himself  by  artifice  and  choice  man- 
agement, earning  the  sobriquet  of  "  the  Little  Magi- 
cian." He  could  not  be  provoked  into  a  loss  of  temper, 
and  he  would  not  say  a  word  while  in  the  chair  except 
as  connected  with  his  duties  as  presiding  officer,  when 
he  spoke  in  gentle  but  persuasive  tones,  singularly 
effective  from  the  clearness  of  his  enunciation  and  his 
well-chosen  emphasis. 

Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  was  then  a  widower,  kept  house 
on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  about  half  way  between  the 
White  House  and  Georgetown,  where  he  not  only  gave 
dinner  parties  to  his  political  friends,  but  entertained 
their  wives  and  daughters  at  evening  whist  parties. 
Gentlemen  and  ladies  were  alike  used  for  the  advance- 
ment of  his  schemes  for  the  succession  and  for  retain- 


Van  Buren1  s  Diplomacy.  131 

ing  his  position  in  the  estimation  of  General  Jackson. 
On  one  occasion  he  said  to  Mrs.  Baton  that  he  had 
been  reading  much  and  thinking  deeply  on  the  char- 
acters of  great  men,  and  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  General  Jackson  was  the  greatest  man  that  had 
ever  lived — the  only  man  among  them  all  who  was 
without  a  fault.  "But,"  he  added,  "don't  tell  General 
Jackson  what  I  have  said.  I  would  not  have  him  know 
it  for  the  world."  Of  course,  it  was  not  long  before 
Mrs.  Baton  repeated  the  conversation  to  General  Jack- 
son. "  Ah,  madam!"  said  Old  Hickory,  the  tears  start- 
ing in  his  eyes,  "  that  man  loves  me  ;  he  tries  to  conceal 
it,  but  there  is  always  some  way  fixed  by  which  I  can 
tell  my  friends  from  my  enemies." 

Mr.  Van  Buren  was  noted  for  his  willingness  to  sign 
applications  for  office,  and  he  used  to  tell  a  good  story 
illustrating  his  readiness  to  oblige  those  who  solicited 
his  aid.  When  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  a 
lawyer  called  on  him  to  get  a  convict  pardoned  from 
the  penitentiary,  and  stated  the  case,  which  was  a  clear 
one.  "  Have  you  the  papers  ?"  he  asked.  "  If  so,  I  will 
sign  them."  "  Here  they  are,"  said  the  lawyer,  pro- 
ducing a  bulky  document,  and  the  Governor  indorsed 
them  :  "  Let  pardon  be  granted.  M.  Van  Buren."  He 
then  left  for  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  but 
soon  returned.  u  Governor,"  said  he,  "  I  made  a  mis- 
take, and  you  indorsed  the  wrong  paper."  He  had 
presented  for  the  official  indorsement  the  marriage  set- 
tlement of  an  Albany  belle  about  to  marry  a  spend- 
thrift. 

To  ingratiate  himself  further  with  General  Jackson, 
and  to  strengthen  the  Democratic  party,  whose  votes 
he  relied  upon  to  elevate  him  to  the  Presidency,  Mr. 
Van  Buren  organized  the  war  against  the  United  States 


132 


Perley's  Reminiscences. 


RECEPTION  OF  DELEGATES. 


Bank.  General  Jackson  was  opposed  to  this  institution 
before  he  became  President,  and  it  was  not  a  difficult 
task  to  impress  upon  his  mind  that  the  Bank  was  an 


The  United  States  Bank.  133 

unconstitutional  monopoly,  which  defied  the  legislative 
acts  of  sovereign  States,  which  was  suborning  the 
leading  newspapers  and  public  men  of  the  country,  and 
which  was  using  every  means  that  wealth,  political  chi- 
canery, and  legal  cunning  could  devise  to  perpetuate  its 
existence.  All  this  the  honest  old  soldier  in  time  be- 
lieved, and  it  was  then  not  difficult  to  impress  him  with  a 
desire  to  combat  this  "  monster,"  as  he  called  the  Bank, 
and  to  act  as  the  champion  of  the  people  in  killing  the 
dragon  which  was  endeavoring  to  consume  their  for- 
tunes. When  a  committee  of  wealthy  business  men 
from  Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia  waited  on 
him  with  a  remonstrance  against  his  financial  policy, 
he  gave  them  such  a  reception  that  they  felt  very  un- 
comfortable and  were  glad  to  get  away. 

The  Democratic  politicians  and  presses  heartily  sec- 
onded their  chieftain  in  this  war,  promising  the  people 
"  Benton  mint-drops  instead  of  rag-money."  Jackson 
clubs  were  everywhere  organized,  having  opposite  to 
the  tavern  or  hall  used  as  their  headquarters  a 
hickory-tree,  trimmed  of  all  its  foliage  except  a  tuft  at 
the  top.  Torch-light  processions,  then  organized  for 
the  first  time,  used  to  march  through  the  streets  of  the 
city  or  village  where  they  belonged,  halting  in  front  of 
the  houses  of  prominent  Jackson  men  to  cheer,  while 
before  the  residences  of  leading  Whigs  they  would 
often  tarry  long  enough  to  give  six  or  nine  groans. 
Editors  of  newspapers  which  supported  the  Adminis- 
tration were  forced  to  advocate  its  most  ultra  measures 
and  to  denounce  its  opponents,  or  they  were  arraigned 
as  traitors,  and  if  satisfactory  excuses  could  not  be 
made,  they  were  read  out  of  the  party.  Among  those 
thus  excommunicated  was  Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett, 
who  had  edited  the  Philadelphia  Pennsylvanian. 


Jackson's  Re-election.  135 

Nicholas  Biddle,  its  president,  managed  the  affairs  of 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  with  consummate  ability. 
His  trials  in  the  bitter  contest  waged  against  him  and 
the  institution  which  he  represented  were  almost  as 
manifold  as  those  that  tested  the  patience  of  Job  ;  and 
he  bore  them  with  equal  meekness  so  far  as  temper  was 
concerned,  but  when  duty  required  he  never  failed  to 
meet  his  opponents  with  decision  and  effect.  The 
Bank  had  to  discount  the  worthless  notes  of  a  number 
of  Congressmen  and  editors,  whose  support,  thus  pur- 
chased, did  more  harm  than  good.  Mr.  Biddle  had  also 
incurred  the  hostility  of  Isaac  Hill  and  other  influen- 
tial Jackson  men  because  he  would  not  remove  the 
non-partisan  presidents  and  cashiers  of  the  branches  of 
the  Bank  in  their  respective  localities,  and  appoint  in 
their  places  zealous  henchmen  of  the  Administration. 

General  Jackson  was  triumphantly  re-elected  in 
November,  1832,  receiving  two  hundred  and  nineteen  of 
the  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  electoral  votes  cast, 
while  Martin  Van  Buren  received  one  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  electoral  votes  forVice-President.  Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  Delaware,  Maryland, 
and  Kentucky  cast  forty-nine  electoral  votes  for  Henry 
Clay  and  John  Sergeant.  Vermont  gave  her  seven 
electoral  votes  for  the  anti-Masonic  candidates,  William 
Wirt  and  William  Ellmaker,  while  South  Carolina  be- 
stowed her  eleven  electoral  votes  on  John  Floyd,  of 
Virginia,  and  Henry  Lee,  of  Massachusetts,  neither  of 
whom  were  nullifiers.  Some  of  the  Jackson  news- 
papers,  while  rejoicing  over  his  re-election,  nominated 
him  for  a  third  term,  and  William  Wirt  wrote  :  "  My 
opinion  is  that  he  may  be  President  for  life  if  he 
chooses." 

The  ordeal  of  re-election  having  been  passed,  Presi- 


136  Perlefs  Reminiscences. 

dent  Jackson  and  his  supporters  carried  out  the 
gramme  which  had  before  been  decided  upon.  The  re- 
moval of  the  Government  deposits  from  the  United 
States  Bank  gave  rise  to  stormy  debates  in  Congress, 
and  the  questionable  exercise  of  Executive  authority 
met  with  a  fierce,  unrelenting  opposition  from  the 
Whigs. 

The  debates  in  the  Senate  on  the  Bank  and  attend- 
ant financial  questions  were  very  interesting,  but  the 
audiences  were  necessarily  small.  The  circumscribed 
accommodations  of  the  Senate  Chamber  were  insuffi- 
cient, and  while  the  ladies  generally  managed  to  secure 
seats,  either  in  the  galleries  or  on  the  floor,  the  gentle- 
men had  to  content  themselves  with  uncomfortable 
positions,  leaning  against  pillars  or  peeping  through 
doorways.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  as  Vice-President,  presided 
with  great  dignity,  and  endeavored  to  conciliate  those 
Senators  who  were  his  rivals  for  the  succession,  but  he 
had  often  to  hear  his  political  course  mercilessly  criti- 
cised by  them. 

John  C.  Calhoun,  who  resigned  the  position  of  Vice- 
President  that  he  might  be  elected  a  Senator  from 
South  Carolina,  differed  from  his  great  contemporaries 
in  the  possession  of  a  private  character  above  reproach. 
Whether  this  arose  from  the  preponderance  of  the  in- 
tellectual over  the  animal  in  his  nature,  or  the  subjec- 
tion of  his  passions  by  discipline,  was  never  determined 
by  those  who  knew  the  gifted  Soiith  Carolinian  best ; 
but  such  was  the  fact.  His  enemies  could  find  no 
opprobrious  appellation  for  him  but  "  Catiline,"  in- 
stead of  "  Caldwell,"  which  was  his  middle  name — no 
crime  but  ambition.  He  disregarded  the  unwritten 
laws  of  the  Senate,  which  required  Senators  to  appear 
in  dress  suits  of  black  broadcloth,  and  asserted  his 


Calhoun1  s  Eccentricities.  137 

State  pride  and  his  State  independence  by  wearing, 
when  the  weather  was  warm,  a  suit  of  nankeen,  made 
from  nankeen  cotton  grown  in  South  Carolina.  Mr. 
Calhoun  had  a  pale  and  attenuated  look,  as  if  in  bad 
health ;  his  long  black  hair  was  combed  up  from  his 
forehead  and  fell  over  the  back  of  his  head,  and  his 
thin  lips  increased  the  effect  of  the  acute  look  with 
which  he  always  regarded  those  around  him.  His 
personal  intercourse  with  friends  was  characterized  by 
great  gentleness  of  manner;  he  was  an  affectionate 
and  a  devoted  husband  and  father,  and  Webster  truly 
remarked  of  him  that  "  he  had  no  recreations,  and 
never  seemed  to  feel  the  necessity  of  amusement." 

Disappointed  in  his  aspirations  for  the  Presidency 
of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Calhoun  conceived  the  idea 
of  dissolving  the  Union  and  establishing  a  Southern 
Confederacy,  of  which  he  would  be  the  Chief  Execu- 
tive. One  of  his  projects,  fearing  that  the  success  of 
the  main  plot  would  be  too  long  delayed  for  any  benefit 
to  inure  to  him,  was  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution, to  make  two  Presidents  exist  at  the  same 
time — one  from  the  South  and  the  other  from  the  other 
sections — and  no  act  in  regard  to  the  interests  of  the 
South  was  to  be  passed  without  the  consent  of  the 
President  for  that  section.  Of  course,  his  plan  was 
looked  upon  as  puerile,  if  not  mischievous,  and  failed 
to  attract  much  attention.  His  whole  soul  was  then 
bent  on  his  main  scheme,  and  he  enlisted  warm,  ardent, 
and  talented  followers  in  behalf  of  it ;  still,  but  little 
headway  was  made  in  it  outside  of  South  Carolina. 

President  Jackson  knew  well  what  was  going  on,  and 
was  determined  that  the  law  should  be  put  into  execu- 
tion, not  against  misguided  followers,  but  against  Cal- 
houn, the  chief  conspirator.  Calhoun,  hearing  that 


138  Perlefs  Reminiscences. 

Jackson  had  resolved  on  his  prosecution  and  trial,  and, 
if  convicted,  his  execution  for  treason,  sent  Letcher, 
of  Kentucky,  to  confer  with  him  and  to  learn  his  real 
intentions.  The  President  received  Letcher  with  his 
usual  courtesy ;  but  that  mild  blue  eye,  which  at  times 
would  fill  with  tears  like  that  of  a  woman,  was  kindled 
up  that  night  with  unwonted  fire.  He  explained  the 
situation  to  Letcher,  and  concluded  by  telling  him  that, 
if  another  step  was  taken,  "by  the  Eternal!"  he  would 
try  Calhoun  for  treason,  and,  if  convicted,  he  would 
hang  him  on  a  gallows  as  high  as  Haman. 

Letcher  saw  that  Jackson  was  terribly  in  earnest, 
and  hastened  to  the  lodgings  of  Calhoun,  who  had 
retired,  but  received  him  sitting  up  in  bed  with  his 
cloak  around  him.  Letcher  detailed  all  that  had  oc- 
curred, giving  entire  the  conversation  with  Jackson, 
and  described  the  old  hero  as  he  took  that  oath. 

There  sat  Calhoun,  drinking  in  -eagerly  every  word, 
and,  as  Letcher  proceeded,  he  turned  pale  as  death, 
and,  great  as  he  was  in  intellect,  trembled  like  an 
aspen  leaf,  not  from  fear  or  cowardice,  but  from  the 
consciousness  of  guilt.  He  was  the  arch  traitor,  who, 
like  Satan  in  Paradise,  "  brought  death  into  the  world 
and  all  our  woe."  Within  one  week  he  came  into  the 
Senate  and  voted — voted  for  every  section  of  Air. 
Clay's  bill — and  President  Jackson  was  prevailed  upon 
not  to  prosecute  him  for  his  crime. 

During  the  last  days  of  General  Jackson  at  the 
Hermitage,  while  slowly  sinking  under  the  ravages  of 
consumption,  he  was  one  day  speaking  of  his  Adminis- 
tration, and  with  glowing  interest  he  inquired  of  his 
physician : 

"  What  act  in  my  Administration,  in  your  opinion, 
will  posterity  condemn  with  the  greatest  severity  ?" 


Nullification.  139 

The  physician  replied  that  he  was  unable  to  answer, 
that  it  might  be  the  removal  of  the  deposits. 

"  Oh  !  no,"  said  the  General. 

"  Then  it  may  be  the  specie  circular?" 

"  Not  at  all !" 

"  What  is  it,  then  ?" 

"  I  can  tell  you,"  said  Jackson,  rising  in  his  bed,  his 
eyes  kindling  up — "  I  can  tell  you  ;  posterity  will  con- 
demn me  more  because  I  was  persuaded  not  to  hang 
John  C.  Calhoun  as  a  traitor  than  for  any  other  act  in 
my  life." 

This  was  in  accord  with  an  earlier  answer  made  by 
"  Old  Hickory,"  before  he  had  so  far  succumbed  to  dis- 
ease and  prior  to  his  union  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  When  his  old  friend  and  physician,  Dr. 
Edgar,  then  asked  him,  "  What  would  you  have  done 
with  Calhoun  and  the  other  nullifiers,  if  they  had  kept 
on?" 

"  Hung  them,  sir,  as  high  as  Haman !"  was  his 
emphatic  reply. 

Daniel  Webster's  reply  to  Hayne  was  made  the  kev- 
note  of  the  resistance  by  the  Administration  to  Jeffer- 
son's assertion  which  was  zealously  adopted  by  Cal- 
houn, "  Where  powers  have  been  assumed  which  have 
not  been  delegated,  nullification  is  the  rightful  remedy." 
President  Jackson's  famous  and  telling  proclama 
tion  against  this  doctrine  of  nullification — the  germ 
of  secession — was  written  by  Edward  Livingston,  his 
Secretary  of  State,  and  it  has  been  said  that  it  fol- 
lowed, throughout,  the  doctrine  maintained  by  Mr. 
Webster  in  his  reply  to  Hayne,  in  1830.  So  remark- 
able was  this  adoption  of  Mr.  Webster's  argument, 
that  popular  opinion  at  that  time  regarded  it  as  a 
manifest,  but  of  course  a  very  excusable,  plagiarism. 


140  Per ley^s  Reminiscences. 

Mr.  Webster,  when  the  proclamation  was  issued,  was 
on  his  way  to  Washington,  ignorant  of  what  had  oc- 
curred. At  an  inn  in  New  Jersey  he  met  a  traveler 
just  from  Washington.  Neither  of  them  was  known 
to  the  other.  Mr.  Webster  inquired  the  news.  "  Sir," 
said  the  gentleman,  "  the  President  has  issued  a  proc- 
lamation against  the  nullifiers,  taken  entirely  from  Mr. 
Webster's  reply  to  Hayne."  In  the  course  of  the 
ensuing  session,  and  not  long  after  Mr.  Webster 
reached  the  capital  it  became  necessary  for  the  Admin- 
istration to  act.  Mr.  Webster  was  in  the  opposition, 
and,  excepting  in  regard  to  the  integrity  of  the  Union 
and  the  just  power  of  the  Government,  there  was  a 
wide  gulf  between  the  Administration  and  him.  He 
was  absent  from  his  seat  for  several  days  when  the 
Force  bill  was  about  to  be  introduced  as  an  Adminis- 
tration measure.  A  portion  of  General  Jackson's 
original  supporters  hung  back  from  that  issue.  At 
this  juncture  there  was  much  inquiry  among  the 
President's  friends  in  the  House  as  to  where  Mr. 
Webster  was.  At  length  a  member  of  General  Jack- 
son's Cabinet  went  to  Mr.  Webster's  rooms,  told  him 
the  nature  of  the  bill  about  to  be  introduced,  and 
asked  him,  as  a  public  duty,  to  go  into  the  Senate  and 
defend  the  bill  and  the  President.  It  is  well  known  to 
the  whole  country  that  Mr.  Webster  did  so  ;  and  it  is 
known  to  me  that  General  Jackson  personally  thanked 
him  for  his  powerful  aid,  that  many  of  the  President's 
best  friends  afterward  sought  to  make  a  union  between 
him  and  Mr.  Webster,  and  that  nothing  continued  to 
separate  them  but  an  irreconcilable  difference  of  opinion 
about  the  questions  relating  to  the  currency. 

While  Mr.    Calhoun  was  undoubtedly  the  leading 
Democrat  in  the  Senate,  after  his  return  to  that  body, 


The  Expunged  Resolution. 


141 


Mr.  Benton  was  the  recognized  leader  of  President  Jack- 
son's adherents  in  that  body.  His  fierce  opposition 
to  "  Biddle  and  the  Bank,"  with  his  prediction  that  the 
time  wonld  come  when  there  would  be  no  paper  money, 
but  when  every  laboring  man 
would  have  a  knit  silk  purse, 
through  the  meshes  of  which 
the  gold  coin  within  could  be 
seen,  obtained  for  him  the  so- 
briquet of  "  Old  Bullion."  His 
greatest  triumph  was  the  pas- 
sage of  a  resolution  by  the 
Senate  "expunging"  from  its 
journal  a  resolution  censuring 
General  Jackson  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  deposits  from  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States. 
This  expunging  resolution 
was  kept  before  the  Senate  for 
nearly  three  years,  and  was 
then  passed  by  only  five  ma- 
j  ority .  The  closing  debate  was 
able  and  exhaustive,  Henry 
Clay,  John  J.  Crittenden, 
Thomas  Ewing,  William  C. 
Rives,  William  Hendricks, 
John  M.  Niles,  Richard  H. 
Bayard,  and  others  participa- 
ting, while  Daniel  Webster 
read  a  pro  test  signed  by  himself 
and  his  sturdy  colleague,  John  Davis.  The  Democrats 
had  provided  a  bountiful  supply  of  refreshments  in  the 
room  of  the  Committee  on  Finance,  and  several  Sena- 
tors showed  by  their  actions  that  they  were  not  mem- 


EXPUNGED  RESOLUTION. 


142  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

bers  of  the  then  newly  organized  Congressional  Tern- 
perance  Society,  before  which  Mr.  Webster  had 
delivered  a  brief  address.  After  the  final  vote — twenty- 
four  yeas  and  nineteen  nays — had  been  taken,  Mr. 
Benton  moved  that  the  Secretary  carry  into  effect  the 
order  of  the  Senate.  Then  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Asbury 
Dickens,  opening  the  manuscript  journal  of  1834, 
drew  broad  black  lines  around'the  obnoxious  resolution 
and  wrote  across  its  face  :  "  Expunged  by  order  of  the 
Senate,  this  i6th  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1837." 

No  sooner  had  he  concluded  than  hisses  were  heard, 
and  Mr.  King,  of  Alabama,  who  occupied  the  chair, 
ordered  the  galleries  to  be  cleared,  while  Mr.  Benton,  in 
a  towering  rage,  denounced  the  offenders  and  demanded 
their  arrest.  "  Here  is  one,"  said  he,  "just  above  me, 
that  may  easily  be  identified — the  bank  ruffian."  Mr. 
King  revoked  his  order  to  clear  the  galleries,  but 
directed  the  arrest  of  the  person  pointed  out  by  Mr. 
Benton,  who  was  soon  brought  before  the  bar  of  the 
Senate.  It  was  Mr.  Lloyd,  a  practicing  lawyer  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  who  was  not  permitted  to  say  a  word 
in  his  own  defense,  but  was  soon  discharged,  after 
which  the  Senate  adjourned. 


THOMAS  HART  BENTON  was  born  near  Hillsborough,  North  Carolina,  March  i4th,  1782;  was 
United  States  Senator  from  Missouri,  1821-1851;  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  Missouri,  1853- 
1855;  was  defeated  as  a  candidate  for  re-election  to  Congress  in  1854,  an<l  as  candidate  for  Governor 
of  Missouri  in  1856,  and  died  at  Washington  City,  April  loth,  1858. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PROMINENT  MEN  OF  JACKSON'S  TIME. 

HARRY  OF  THE  WEST — TILT  BETWEEN  CLAY  AND  BENTON — REBUKE  OP 
A  REVOLUTIONARY  HERO — APT  ORATORICAL  ILLUSTRATION — DANIEL 

WEBSTER'S  WIT — AN  EXCITED  VISITOR — THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENT- 
ATIVES— GENERAL  HOUSTON  REPRIMANDED— ELI  MOORE,  OF  NEW 
YORK— CHURCHILL  C.  CAMBRELING — CROCKETT,  OF  TENNESSEE—  EM- 
BRYO PRESIDENTS— OTHER  DISTINGUISHED  REPRESENTATIVES — A 
JACKSON  DEMOCRAT. 

HENRY  CLAY,  after  Ms  return  to  the  Senate, 
was  the  recognized  leader  of  the  Whig  Sena- 
tors, for  he  would  recognize  no  leader.  His 
oratory  was  persuasive  and  spirit-stirring.  The  fire  of 
his  bright  eyes  and  the  sunny  smile  which  lighted  up 
his  countenance  added  to  the  attractions  of  his  un- 
equaled  voice,  which  was  equally  distinct  and  clear, 
whether  at  its  highest  key  or  lowest  whisper — rich, 
musical,  captivating.  His  action  was  the  spontaneous 
offspring  of  the  passing  thought.  He  gesticulated  all 
over.  The  nodding  of  his  head,  hung  on  a  long  neck, 
his  arms,  hands,  fingers,  feet,  and  even  his  spectacles, 
his  snuff-box,  and  his  pocket-handkerchief,  aided  him  in 
debate.  He  stepped  forward  and  backward,  and  from 
the  right  to  the  left,  with  effect.  Every  thought  spoke ; 
the  whole  body  had  its  story  to  tell,  and  added  to  the 
attractions  of  his  able  arguments.  But  he  was  not  a 
good  listener,  and  he  would  often  sit,  while  other  Sena- 
tors were  speaking,  eating  sticks  of  striped  peppermint 

143 


144 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


candy,  and  occasionally  taking  a  pinch  of  snuff  from  a 
silver  box  that  he  carried,  or  from  one  that  graced  the 
table  of  the  Senate. 

Occasionally,  Mr.  Clay  was  very  imperious  and  dis- 
played bad  temper  in  debate.  Once  he  endeavored  to 
browbeat  Colonel  Benton,  bringing  up  "  Old  Bullion's" 
personal  rencontre  with  General  Jackson,  and  charging 
the  former  with  having  said  that,  should  the  latter  be 
elected  President,  Congress  must  guard  itself  with 

pistols  and  dirks.  This 
Colonel  Benton  pro- 
nounced "  an  atrocious 
calumny."  "  What," 
retorted  Mr.  Clay,  "can 
you  look  me  in  the  face, 
sir,  and  say  that  you 
never  used  that  lan- 
guage?" "I  look,"  said 
Colonel  Benton,  "  and 
repeat  that  it  is  an 
atrocious  calumny,  and 
I  will  pin  it  to  him  who 
repeats  it  here."  Mr. 
Clay's  face  flushed  with 
rage  as  he  replied:  "  Then  I  declare  before  the  Senate 
that  you  said  to  me  the  very  words  !"  "  False  !  false  ! 
false!"  shouted  Colonel  Benton,  and  the  Senators  inter- 
fered, Mr.  Tazewell,  who  was  in  the  chair,  calling  the 
belligerents  to  order.  After  some  discussion  of  the 
questions  of  order,  Colonel  Benton  said  :  "  I  apologize 
to  the  Senate  for  the  manner  in  which  I  have  spoken 
— but  not  to  the  Senator  from  Kentucky."  Mr.  Clay 
promptly  added :  "  To  the  Senate  I  also  offer  an 
apology — to  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  none  !"  Half 


BROWN'S   BUST  OF  CLAY. 


Mr.   Clay  in  Debate.  145 

an  hour  afterward  they  shook  hands,  as  lawyers  often 
do  who  have  just  before  abused  each  other  in  court. 

On  another  occasion,  General  Smith,  of  Baltimore,  a 
Revolutionary  hero  upward  of  eighty  years  of  age,  who 
had  been  a  member  of  Congress  almost  forty  years, 
was  one  day  the  object  of  Henry  Clay's  wrath.  The 
old  General,  who  had  fought  gallantly  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle  and  taken  up  arms  again  in  the  War 
of  1812,  was  offensively  bullied  by  Mr.  Clay,  who  said: 
"  The  honorable  gentleman  was  in  favor  of  manufac- 
tures, in  1822,  but  he  has  turned — I  need  not  use  the 
word — he  has  abandoned  manufactures.  Thus 

"  '  Old  politicians  chew  on  wisdom  past 
And  totter  on,  in  blunders,  to  the  last.'  " 

The  old  General  sprang  to  his  feet.  "  The  last 
allusion,"  said  he,  "  is  unworthy  of  a  gentleman. 
Totter,  sir,  I  totter !  Though  some  twenty  years 
older  than  the  gentleman,  I  can  yet  stand  firm,  and  am 
yet  able  to  correct  his  errors.  I  could  take  a  view  of 
the  gentleman's  course,  which  would  show  how  consist- 
ent he  has  been."  Mr.  Clay  exclaimed,  angrily  :  "  Take 
it,  sir,  take  it— I  dare  you  !"  Cries  of  "  Order."  "  No, 
sir,"  said  Mr.  Smith,  "  I  will  not  take  it.  I  will  not 
so  far  disregard  what  is  due  to  the  dignity  of  the  Sen- 
ate." 

While  Mr.  Clay  was  generally  imperious  in  debate, 
and  not  overcautious  in  his  choice  of  phrases  and 
epithets,  he  was  fond  of  a  joke,  and  often  indulged,  in 
an  undertone,  in  humorous  comments  on  the  remarks 
by  other  Senators.  Sometimes  he  would  be  very 
happy  in  his  illustrations,  and  make  the  most  of  some 
passing  incident.  One  afternoon,  when  he  was  reply- 
ing to  a  somewhat  heated  opponent,  a  sudden  squall 
10 


146  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

came  up  and  rattled  the  window  curtains  so  as  to  pro- 
duce  a  considerable  noise.  The  orator  stopped  short  in 
the  midst  of  his  remarks  and  inquired  aloud,  what  was 
the  matter ;  and  then,  as  if  divining  the  cause  of  the 
disturbance,  he  said :  "  Storms  seem  to  be  coming  in 
upon  us  from  all  sides."  The  observation,  though 
trivial  as  related,  was  highly  amusing  under  the  cir- 
cumstances which  gave  rise  to  it  and  from  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  uttered. 

When  Henry  Clay  returned  to  the  Senate,  Daniel 
Webster  yielded  to  him  the  leadership  of  the  Whigs  in 
that  body,  but  in  no  way  sacrificed  his  own  indepen- 
dence. "  The  Great  Expounder  of  the  Constitution," 
as  he  was  called,  was  then  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  had 
not  began  those  indulgences  which  afterward  exercised 
such  injurious  effects  upon  him.  He  would  also  occa- 
sionally indulge  in  a  grim  witticism.  On  one  occasion, 
when  a  Senator  who  was  jeering  another  for  some 
pedantry  said,  "  The  honorable  gentleman  may  pro- 
ceed to  quote  from  Crabbe's  Synonyms,  from  Walker 
and  Webster " — "  Not  from  Walker  and  Webster," 
exclaimed  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  "for  the 
authorities  may  disagree !"  At  another  time,  when  he 
was  speaking  on  the  New  York  Fire  bill,  the  Senate 
clock  suddenly  began  to  strike,  and  after  it  had  struck 
continuously  for  about  fourteen  or  fifteen  times,  Mr. 
Webster  stopped,  and  said  to  the  presiding  officer, 
"  The  clock  is  out  of  order,  sir — I  have  the  floor." 
The  occupant  of  the  chair  looked  rebukingly  at  the 
refractory  time-piece,  but,  in  defiance  of  the  officers  and 
rules  of  the  House,  it  struck  about  forty  before  the 
Sergeant-at-Arms  could  stop  it,  Mr.  Webster  standing 
silent,  while  every  one  else  was  laughing. 

On  another  occasion,  while  Mr.  Webster  was  address- 


HENRY  CLAY 
ADDRESSING  THE  SENATE. 


148  Parley's  Reminiscences. 

ing  the  Senate  in  presenting  a  memorial,  a  clerical- 
looking  person  in  one  of  the  galleries  arose  and 
shouted:  "  My  friends,  the  country  is  on  the  brink  of 
destruction !  Be  sure  that  you  act  on  correct  princi- 
ples. I  warn  you  to  act  as  your  consciences  may 
approve.  God  is  looking  down  upon  you,  and  if  you 
act  on  correct  principles  you  will  get  safely  through." 
He  then  deliberately  stepped  back,  and  retired  from 
the  gallery  before  the  officers  of  the  Senate  could  reach 
him.  Mr.  Webster  was,  of  course,  surprised  at  this 
extraordinary  interruption^;  but  when  the  shrill  voice 
of  the  enthusiast  had  ceased,  he  coolly  resumed  his 
remarks,  saying,  "As  the  gentleman  in  the  gallery  has 
concluded,  I  will  proceed." 

Mr.  Cuthbert,  of  Georgia,  was  much  provoked,  one 
day,  by  a  scathing  denunciation  of  his  State  by  Mr. 
Clay  for  the  manner  in  which  she  had  treated  the 
Cherokee  Indians.  As  the  eloquent  Kentuckian  dwelt 
more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger  upon  the  wrongs  and 
outrages  perpetrated  in  Georgia  upon  the  unoffending 
aborigines  within  her  borders,  many  of  his  hearers 
were  affected  to  tears,  and  he  himself  was  obviously 
deeply  moved.  No  sooner  did  Mr.  Clay  resume  his 
seat  than  Mr.  Cuthbert  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  in  an 
insolent  tone  alluded  to  what  he  called  the  theatrical 
manner  of  the  speaker.  "  What  new  part  will  Roscius 
next  enact?"  said  the  Senator  from  Georgia,  coming 
forward  from  his  desk  and  standing  in  the  area  of  the 
hall.  He  was  a  man  of  about  the  ordinary  height, 
with  a  round  face  pitted  with  the  smallpox,  small,  dark 
eyes,  and  a  full  forehead.  As  he  spoke  he  twirled  his 
watch-key  incessantly  with  his  right  hand,  while  his 
left  was  flung  about  in  the  most  unmeaning  and  awk- 
ward gestures.  He  twisted  his  body  right  and  left,  for- 


Brilliant  Debaters.  149 

ward  and  backward,  as  if  he  were  a  Chinese  mandarin 
going  through  a  stated  number  of  evolutions  before  his 
emperor;  in  fact,  he  had  "all  the  contortions  of  the 
sybil,  without  her  inspiration."  To  this  display  Mr. 
Clay  seemed  entirely  oblivious,  but  after  Judge  White, 
of  Tennessee,  had  discussed  the  pending  question,  Mr. 
Clay  rose,  saying,  that  he  would  reply  to  this  gentle- 
man's remarks  as.  "they  alone  were  worthy  of  notice." 
In  the  House  of  Representatives,  during  the  Jack- 
son Administration,  sectional  topics  were  rife,  sectional 
jealousies  were  high,  and  partisan  warfare  was  unre- 
lenting. Andrew  Stevenson"  of  Virginia,  who  was  tri- 
umphantly re-elected  as  Speaker  for  four  successive 
terms,  understood  well  how  to  keep  down  the  boil- 
ing caldron,  and  to  exercise  stern  authority,  tem- 
pered with  dignity  and  courtesy,  over  heated  passions 
of  the  fiercest  conflicting  character.  When  he  was 
transferred  from  the  Speaker's  chair  to  the  Court  of  St. 
James,  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  an  old  supporter  of 
General  Jackson,  became  his  successor  for  the  remain- 
der of  that  session,  but  at  the  commencement  of  the 
next  Congress  Mr.  Van  Buren  secured  the  election  of 
James  K.  Polk.  Mr.  Bell,  on  his  next  visit  to  Nash- 
ville, threw  down  the  gauntlet,  in  an  able  speech,  and 
nominated  Judge  White.  This  was  the  foundation  of 
the  White  party,  which  had,  as  its  editorial  henchman, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Brownlow,  known  as  "  the  fighting 
Parson,"  who  soon  acquired  a  national  reputation  by 
his  defiant  personalities  in  debate  and  by  his  trenchant 
editorial  articles  in  the  "newspapers  of  Bast  Tennessee. 
Mr.  Brownlow  was  at  that  time  a  tall,  spare  man,  with 
long,  black  hair,  black  eyes,  and  a  sallow  complexion. 
He  was  devoted  to  the  Methodist  Church  and  to  the 
White — afterward  the  Whig — party,  and  the  denomi- 


150  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

national  doctrine  of  immersion  and  the  political  dogma 
of  emancipation  from  slavery  were  objects  of  his 
intense  hatred. 

While  Mr.  Stevenson  was  Speaker,  General  Samuel 
Houston,  who  had  been  residing  among  the  Indians 
on  the  Southwestern  frontier  for  several  years,  came  to 
Washington.  Taking  offense  at  some  remarks  made 
in  debate  by  Mr.  Vance,  a  representative  from  Ohio, 
Houston  assaulted  and  severely  pounded  him.  The 
House  voted  that  Houston  should  be  brought  before  its 
bar  and  reprimanded  by  the  Speaker,  which  was  done, 
although  Mr.  Stevenson's  reprimand  was  really  com- 
plimentary. That  night  a  friend  of  General  Houston, 
with  a  bludgeon  and  a  pistol,  attacked  Mr.  Arnold, 
of  Tennessee,  who  had  been  active  in  securing  the 
reprimand,  but  the  latter  soon  got  the  best  of  the 
encounter. 

The  first  man  elected  to  Congress  as  a  representative 
of  the  rights  of  the  laboring  classes  was  Eli  Moore,  a 
New  York  journeyman  printer,  who  had  organized 
trades  unions  and  successfully  engineered  several 
strikes  by  mechanics  against  their  employers.  He 
was  a  thin,  nervous  man,  with  keen,  dark  hazel  eyes, 
long  black  hair  brushed  back  behind  his  ears,  and  a 
strong,  clear  voice  which  rang  through  the  hall  like 
the  sound  of  a  trumpet.  He  especially  distinguished 
himself  in  a  reply  to  General  Waddy  Thompson,  of 
South  Carolina,  who  had  denounced  the  mechanics 
of  the  North  as  willing  tools  of  the  Abolitionists. 
With  impetuous  force  and  in '  tones  tremulous  with 
emotion,  he  denounced  aristocracy  and  advocated  the 
equality  of  all  men.  The  House  listened  with  attention, 
and  a  Southern  politician  exclaimed  to  one  of  his  col- 
leagues, "  Why,  this  is  the  high-priest  of  revolution 


A   Thorough   Worker.  151 

singing  his  war  song."  What  added  to  the  effect  of  this 
remarkable  speech  was  its  dramatic  termination.  Just 
as  he  had  entered  upon  his  peroration  he  grew  deathly 
pale,  his  eyes  closed,  his  outstretched  hands  clutched  at 
vacancy,  he  reeled  forward,  and  fell  insensible.  His 
friends  rushed  to  his  support,  and  his  wife,  who  was  in 
the  gallery,  screamed  with  terror.  His  physician  posi- 
tively prohibited  his  speaking  again,  and  in  subsequent 
years,  when  the  Democratic  party  was  in  power,  he 
enjoyed  the  positions  of  Indian  Agent  under  Polk,  and 
of  Land  Agent  under  Pierce. 

Ransom  H.  Gillet,  of  the  Ogdensburgh  district,  was 
one  of  the  old  "  Jackson  Democratic  War-Horses." 
He  was  a  man  of  commanding  presence,  a  ready 
speaker,  and  a  famous  manipulator  of  opinion  at  Con- 
ventions. 

By  birth  a  North  Carolinian,  Churchill  C.  Cambre- 
ling  was  by  adoption  a  New  Yorker,  and  by  strict  at- 
tention to  business  he  had  become  one  of  the  merchant 
princes  of  the  commercial  metropolis.  Thirty  years  of 
age,  with  a  commanding  presence,  a  good  voice,  a  ready 
command  of  language,  and  a  practical  knowledge  of 
financial  matters,  he  made  an  excellent  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means  and  leader  of  the 
Jackson  men  in  the  House. 

He  carried  business  habits  into  Congress,  and  passed 
much  of  his  time  at  his  desk,  laboriously  answering 
every  letter  addressed  to  him  by  his  constituents  or 
others,  or  carefully  examining  papers  referred  to  his 
Committee.  But  he  was  always  on  the  alert,  and  if  in 
debate  any  political  opponent  let  slip  a  word  derogatory 
to  the  Administration,  Mr.  Cambreling  was  at  once  on 
his  feet  with  a  pertinent  retort  or  a  skillful  explanation. 
He  was  noted  for  his  liberality,  and  neither  the  district 


152 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


charities  or  his  needy  constituents  ever  appealed  to  him 
in  vain. 

The  Whigs,  during  the  Jackson  Administration, 
made  much  of  David  Crockett,  of  Tennessee,  who  was 
a  thorn  in  the  sides  of  the  Democrats,  and  they  suc- 
ceeded in  having  him  defeated  for  one  Congress,  but  he 
was  successful  at  the  next  election.  He  was  a  true 

frontiersman,  with 
a  small  dash  of 
civilization  and  a 
great  deal  of 
shrewdness  trans- 
plated  in  political 
life.  He  was 
neither  grammati- 
cal nor  graceful, 
but  no  rudeness 
of  language  can 
disguise  strong 
sense  and  shrewd- 
ness, and  a  "  dem- 
onstration," a  s 
Bulwer  says,  "will 
force  its  way 
through  all  per- 
versions of  gram- 
mar." Some  one  undertook  to  publish  his  life,  but  he 
promptly  denied  the  authenticity  of  the  work,  and  had  a 
true  memoir  of  himself  written  and  published.  This 
was  a  successful  literary  venture,  and  he  next  published 
a  burlesque  life  of  Van  Buren,  "heir  apparent  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  appointed  successor  of  Andrew  Jackson," 
which,  in  the  mixture  of  truth,  error,  wit,  sense,  and 
nonsense  in  about  equal  parts,  has  certainly  the  merit 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 


Embryo  Presidents.  153 

even  at  this  day  of  being  entertaining.  Crockett's 
favorite  expression  was,  "  Be  snre  you're  right,  then  go 
ahead."  When  Texas  commenced  its  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence he  went  there,  and  was  killed  while  gallantly 
fighting  at  San  Antonio.  His  son,  John  W.  Crockett, 
served  two  terms  in  Congress,  was  Attorney-General  of 
Tennessee,  edited  a  paper  at  New  Orleans,  and  died  at 
Memphis  in  1852. 

Among  the  other  members  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  Jackson's  time  were  several  who  afterward 
occupied  high  positions  in  the  Federal  Government. 
Franklin  Pierce,  a  courteous  gentleman,  the  son  of  a 
brave  Revolutionary  soldier,  had  been  sent  from  New 
Hampshire  by  a  large  majority,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  personal  friendships  upon  which  he  afterward 
entered  the  White  House  as  President.  Millard  Fill- 
more,  hale  and  hearty  in  personal  appearance,  repre- 
sented his  home  at  Buffalo.  He  soon  acquired  a  repu- 
tation for  performing  his  committee  work  with  scrupu- 
lous fidelity,  and  winning  the  confidence  of  his  col- 
leagues, while  advancing  on  all  proper  occasions  the 
interests  of  his  constituents,  who  rejoiced  when  he  be- 
came President,  after  the  death  of  Taylor.  James 
Knox  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  a  rigid  Presbyterian,  an 
uncompromising  Democrat,  and  a  zealous  Freemason, 
was  another  Representative  who  subsequently  became 
President. 

There  were  several  other  prominent  men  in  the 
House:  Richard  Mentor  Johnson,  a  burly  and  slightly 
educated  Kentucky  Indian-fighter,  who  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  having  killed  Tecumseh  at  the  battle  of 
the  Thames,  was  elected  a  few  years  later  on  the  Van 
Buren  ticket  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  but 
was  defeated  in  the  Harrison  campaign  four  years 


154 


Parley's  Reminiscences. 


later  ;  and  John  Bell,  a  Whig  of  commanding  presence 
and  great  practical  sagacity,  who  was  afterward  Senator 
and  Secretary  of  War,  and  who  was  defeated  when  he 
ran  on  the  Presidential  ticket  of  the  Constitutional 
Union  party,  in  1860.  Elisha  Whittlesey,  of  Ohio,  who 
after  sixteen  years  of  Congressional  service  became  an 
auditor,  and  was  known  as  "  the  Watch  Dog  of  the 
Treasury."  Tom  Corwin,  of  the  same  State,  with  a 

portly  figure,  swarthy 
complexion,  and  won- 
derful facial  expres- 
sion, and  an  inex- 
haustible flow  of  wit, 
who  was  not  a  buffoon, 
but  a  gentleman  whose 
humor  was  natural, 
racy,  and  chaste.  Gu- 
lian  C.  Verplanck  and 
Thomas  J.  Oakley, 
two  members  of  the 
New  York  bar,  who 
represented  that  city, 
were  statesmen  rather 
than  politicians.  John 
Chambers,  of  Ken- 
tucky, a  gigantic  economist,  was  ever  ready  to  reform 
small  expenditures  and  willing  to  overlook  large  ones. 
And  then-  there  was  the  ponderous  Dixon  H.  Lewis, 
of  Alabama,  the  largest  man  who  ever  occupied  a  seat 
in  Congress — so  large  that  chairs  had  to  be  made  ex- 
pressly for  his  use. 

General  James  Findlay,  who  had  served  creditably  in 
the  War  of  1812,  was  a  Jackson  Democratic  Representa- 
tive in  the  days  of  the  contest  between  "  Old  Hickory" 


GEN.   FINDLAY  S    LAND    SALE. 


A  Model  Land  Agent.  155 

and  "  Biddle's  Bank."  He  was  a  type  of  a  gentleman 
of  the  old  school,  and  he  recalled  Washington  Irving's 
picture  of  the  master  of  Bracebridge  Hall.  The  bluff 
and  hearty  manner,  the  corpulent  person,  and  the  open 
countenance  of  the  General,  his  dress  of  the  aristo- 
cratic blue  and  buff,  and  his  gold-headed  cane,  all 
tallied  with  the  descriptions  of  the  English  country 
gentleman  of  the  olden  time.  He  was  greatly  beloved 
in  Ohio,  and  several  anecdotes  are  told  of  his  kindness 
in  enforcing  the  claims  of  the  United  States,  when  he 
was  Receiver  of  the  District  Land  Office,  for  lands  sold 
on  credit,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  days.  Upon  one 
occasion  there  had  been  a  time  of  general  tightness  in 
money  matters,  and  many  farms  in  the  region  north- 
east of  Cincinnati  but  partly  paid  for  were  forfeited  to 
the  Government.  In  the  discharge  of  his  official  duty 
General  Findlay  attended  at  the  place  of  sale.  He 
learned,  soon  after  his  arrival  there,  that  many  specu- 
lators were  present  prepared  to  purchase  these  lands. 
Mounting  a  stump,  he  opened  the  sale.  He  designated 
the  lands  forfeited,  and  said  that  he  was  there  to  offer 
them  to  the  highest  bidder.  He  said  that  the  original 
purchasers  were  honest  men,  but  that  in  consequence 
of  the  hard  times  they  had  failed  to  meet  their  engage- 
ments. It  was  hard,  thus  to  be  forced  from  their 
homes  already  partly  paid  for.  But  the  law  was  im- 
perative, and  the  lands  must  be  offered.  "And  now," 
continued  he,  "  I  trust  that  there  is  no  gentleman — no, 
I  will  not  say  that,  I  hope  there  is  no  rascal — here  so 
mean  as  to  buy  his  neighbor's  home  over  his  head. 
Gentlemen,  I  offer  this  lot  for  sale.  Who  bids  ?" 
There  was  no  forfeited  land  sold  that  day. 

A  spirited  bronze  statue  of  Jefferson,  by  his  admirer, 
the  French  sculptor,  David  d' Angers,  was  presented  to 


156  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

Congress  by  Lieutenant  Uriah  P.  Levy,  but  Congress 
declined  to  accept  it,  and  denied  it  a  position  in  the 
Capitol.  It  was  then  reverentially  taken  in  charge  by 
two  naturalized  Irish  citizens,  stanch  Democrats,  and 
placed  on  a  small  pedestal  in  front  of  the  White  House. 
One  of  these  worshipers  of  Jefferson  was  the  public 
gardener,  Jemmy  Maher,  the  other  was  John  Foy, 
keeper  of  the  restaurant  in  the  basement  of  the  Capi- 
tol, and  famous  for  his  witty  sayings.  Prominent 
among  his  bon  mots  was  an  encomium  on  Represent- 
ative Dawson,  of  Louisiana,  who  was  noted  for  his 
intemperate  habits,  the  elaborate  ruffles  of  his  shirts, 
and  his  pompous  strut.  "  He  came  into  me  place," 
said  Foy,  "  and  after  ateing  a  few  oysters  he  flung  down 
a  Spanish  dollar,  saying,  '  Niver  mind  the  change,  Mr. 
Foy  ;  kape  it  for  yourself.'  Ah  !  there's  a  pay  cock  of 
a  gintleman  for  you." 


RICHARD  MENTOR  JOHNSON  was  born  at  Bryant's  Station,  Kentucky,  October  i/th,  1781 ;  distin- 
guished himself  in  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  Indian  wars  ;  was  a  Representative 
in  Congress  from  Kentucky,  1807-1813  ;  was  a  United  States  Senator,  1820-1829  ;  was  again  a  Rep- 
resentative, 1829-1837;  was  Vice-President,  1837-1841;  died  at  Frankfort,  November  igth,  1850. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

SOCIETY  IN  JACKSON'S  TIME. 

THE  VAN  NESS  MANSION — A  BENEFACTRESS — A  POPULAR  CITIZEN — A 
MUCH-TALKED-OF  LAWSUIT — A  RUNAWAY  NUN — GENERAL  JACKSON'S 
DIPLOMACY — WASHINGTON  SOCIETY — ANECDOTES  TOLD  BY  MR.  CLAY 
— MAELZEL'S  AUTOMATA — CONDEMNED  LITERATURE. 

THE  most  elegant  estate  in  Washington  in  Jack- 
son's time  was  the  Van  Ness  mansion,  built  on 
the  bank  of  the  Potomac,  at  the  foot  of  Seven- 
teenth Street.  Mr.  John  Van  Ness,  when  a  member  of 
the  House  from  the  State  of  New  York,  had  married 
Marcia,  the  only  child  of  David  Burns,  one  of  the  orig- 
inal proprietors  of  the  land  on  which  the  Federal  City 
was  located.  At  that  time  every  able-bodied  man 
between  eighteen  and  forty-five  (with  a  few  exceptions) 
had  to  perform  militia  duty,  and  the  District  Volunteers, 
organizing  themselves  in  a  battalion,  complimented  Mr. 
Van  Ness  by  electing  him  Major.  The  President  com- 
missioned him,  but  so  strict  were  the  Congressmen  of 
those  days  that  the  House  investigated  his  case,  and 
declared  that  he  had  forfeited  his  seat  as  a  Representa- 
tive by  accepting  a  commission  from  the  General  Gov- 
ernment. For  the  empty  honor  of  wearing  a  militia 
uniform  three  or  four  times  a  year,  and  paying  a  large 
share  of  the  music  assessments,  Major  Van  Ness  lost 
his  seat  in  Congress. 

157 


158  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

Marcia  Burns  was  a  lively,  beautiful  girl,  with  an 
engaging  frankness  in  her  manner.  She  was  well 
educated,  and  while  her  father  was  commonly  known 
as  "  Crusty  Davie","  she  possessed  over  him  an  influence 
that  could  sway  him  almost  invariably.  As  the  sole 
inheritor  of  the  Burns  estate  she  was  looked  upon  as 
a  most  desirable  matrimonial  prize,  and  she  was  dili- 
gently sought  after  by  multitudes  of  suitors,  but  the 
choice  of  her  heart  was  the  brilliant  young  Congress- 
man with  whom  she  linked  her  fate,  and  who  was  in  all 
respects  worthy  of  so  noble  a  companion. 

David  Burns  died  soon  after  his  daughter's  marriage, 
and  she  dutifully  conveyed  to  her  husband,  through 
the  intervention  of  a  trustee,  her  paternal  inheritance. 
With  a  portion  of  the  fortune  thus  acquired,  Major 
Van  Ness  built  near  the  old  Burns  cottage  a  villa  which 
cost  thirty  thousand  dollars,  and  was  a  palace  fit  for  a 
king.  Entertainments  the  most  costly  were  inaugu- 
rated and  maintained  in  it ;  wit  and  song  were  heard 
within  it,  and  elegance  and  distinction  assembled  under 
its  hospitable  shelter.  From  its  door-step  one  could  see 
ships  from  Europe  moored  to  the  docks  of  Alexandria, 
while  gliding  by  were  merchantmen  from  the  West 
Indies,  laden  for  the  port  of  Georgetown. 

Major  Van  Ness  and  Marcia  Burns  lived  very  hap- 
pily together  and  had  one  child,  a  daughter,  who  grew 
into  womanhood,  married,  and  died  a  year  after  her 
marriage,  ere  the  flowers  in  her  bridal  wreath  had  faded. 
Mrs.  Van  Ness  loved  her  daughter  with  a  love  that  was 
idolatry,  and  with  her  death  she  received  a  blow  from 
which  she  never  recovered.  She  abandoned  all  the 
gayeties  of  the  world,  and  laid  aside  her  sceptre  and 
crown  as  queen  of  society.  In  the  charity  school  and 
orphan-asylum,  by  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and  dying, 


An  Elegant  Mausoleum. 


and  in  the  homes  of  poverty,  relieving  its  wants,  she 
was  found  to  the  day  of  her  death.  Her  last  words  to 
her  grief-stricken  husband  and  friends  assembled  about 
her  bedside  were:  "Heaven  bless  and  protect  you; 
never  mind  me."  The  Mayor  and  City  Government 
passed  appropriate  resolutions,  and  attended  her  funeral 
Major  Van  Ness  erected  a  mausoleum  after  the  pat- 


THE  VAN  NESS  MAUSOLEUM. 


tern  of  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  at  a  cost  of  thirty-four  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  placed  within  it  his  wife's  remains 
and  those  of  her  father  and  mother.  The  stately  pile 
stood  in  a  large  inclosure  for  years  on  H  Street,  beside 
the  orphan  asylum  which  Mrs.  Van  Ness  richly  endowed. 
Finally  the  march  of  improvement,  needing  all  the 
space  available  within  the  city  limits,  necessitated  the 
removal  of  the  mausoleum  to  Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  in 


160  Per iey 's  Reminiscences. 

Georgetown,  where  the  remains  of  John  Howard  Payne 
were  subsequently  re-interred. 

Major  Van  Ness  himself  enjoyed  everything  that 
worldly  preferment  could  bestow.  By  turns  he  was 
president  of  a  bank  and  Mayor  of  Washington,  yet 
with  his  ample  fortune  he  was  always  short  of  ready 
money.  He  was  never  pressed  by  suit,  however,  for 
his  good  nature  was  as  irresistible  as  the  man  was  fas- 
cinating ;  the  dun  who  came  with  a  bill  and  a  frown 
went  away  with  a  smile  and — his  bill.  He  lived  to  be 
seventy-six  years  of  age,  when — like  the  patriarchs  of 
old — he  died,  full  of  honor  and  greatness,  and,  leaving 
no  direct  issue,  his  property  passed  into  the  hands  of 
collateral  heirs.  They  were  sensible  heirs,  who  did 
not  seek  the  intervention  of  courts  and  lawyers  for  a 
distribution  of  their  interests,  but  wisely  and  amicably 
distributed  them  themselves.  The  law,  however,  was 
determined  not  to  be  entirely  shunned.  If  the  heirs 
would  not  go  to  law,  the  law  was  accommodating — it 
would  come  to  them,  and  it  came  with  a  romance. 

One  day,  soon  after  the  death  of  Major  Van  Ness,  a 
buxom,  matronly  looking  dame,  in  heavy  mourning  and 
with  tear-dimmed  eyes,  came  upon  the  scene  and  claimed 
a  share  of  the  estate.  They  naturally  inquired  her  name 
and  address,  and  she  modestly,  but  firmly,  told  them  she 
was  the  widow  of  the  deceased  by  virtue  of  a  clandestine 
marriage  which  had  occurred  in  Philadelphia.  The 
heirs  mistook  her  modesty  for  an  attempt  at  blackmail, 
and  acted  as  defendants  in  the  suit  which  she  instituted. 
The  trial  is  one  of  the  celebrated  cases  of  the  District 
»  of  Columbia.  It  lasted  upward  of  a  month.  Eminent 
counsel  were  in  it,  and  many  witnesses  came  to  prove 
the  truth  of  opposite  facts.  There  was  no  doubt  that 
Van  Ness  had  known  the  widow  and  had  visited  her, 


A  Runaway  Nun.  161 

for  love  letters  were  read  in  court  from  him  to  her; 
there  was  no  doubt  that  some  ceremony,  sanctioned  by 
a  minister's  presence,  had  been  performed  and  assisted 
at  by  both  together,  but  the  requisite  formalities  to 
constitute  a  valid  marriage  were  not  fully  proven,  and 
the  jury  disagreed.  The  matronly  dame  in  heavy 
mourning  did  not  murmur :  luck  was  against  her,  and 
she  accepted  her  luck.  She  left  Washington  and  never 
pressed  her  suit  to  a  second  trial,  nor  further  harassed 
the  heirs. 

Miss  Ann  G.  Wright,  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Van  Ness, 
created  a  great  sensation  in  Washington  by  coming  to 
her  house  for  a  home.  She  was  a  runaway  nun  from 
the  Convent  of  the  Visitation  in  Georgetown,  and  had 
been  known  in  the  community  as  Sister  Gertrude. 
No  one  ever  knew  rightly  the  cause  of  her  sudden 
departure  from  the  convent.  Some  said  it  was  dis- 
appointed ambition  in  not  being  appointed  superioress; 
others,  that  it  was  a  case  of  love  ;  but  she  never  told, 
and  the  ladies  of  the  convent  were  just  as  reticent. 
She  becp.me  an  inmate  of  the  elegant  Van  Ness  man- 
sion and  was  a  noted  and  brilliant  woman  in  society. 
It  was  said  that  she  had  written  a  book,  exposing  the 
inner  life  of  the  convent,  to  be  published  after  her 
death,  but  I  have  never  heard  of  its  appearance.  A 
few  years  after  she  left  the  convent  she  accompanied 
the  family  of  the  American  Minister  to  Spain,  and 
resided  for  some  time  at  Madrid,  where  she  was  a  great 
favorite  in  Court  circles. 

General  Jackson  was  not  cultured  or  accomplished, 
but  he  had  a  strong,  well-balanced  mind,  and  he  would 
go  through  forests  of  sophistry  and  masses  of  legal 
opinions  straight  to  the  point.  Governor  Wise,  who 
admired  him  greatly,  used  to  tell  a  story  illustrative 
ii 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

of  the  rough  bark  of  Old  Hickory's  character.  During 
the  Administration  of  President  Monroe,  General  Jack- 
son, in  command  of  some  troops,  invaded  Florida  and 
captured  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  two  Englishmen, 
-who,  it  was  charged,  incited  the  Indians  to  depreda- 
tions. He  at  once  ordered  a  court-martial  and  had  them 
hanged,  with  but  little  time  to  prepare  for  their  future 
place  of  abode.  He  was  arraigned  for  the  offense  before 


OLD  STATE  DEPARTMENT  BUILDING. 

Uie  Cabinet  of  Mr.  Monroe,  and  Mr.  Adams,  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  defended  him  011  the  high  ground  of  inter- 
national law  as  expounded  by  Grotius,  Vattel,  and  Puff- 
endorf.  Jackson,  who  had  quarreled  with  Mr.  Monroe, 
was  disposed  to  regard  the  matter  as  entirely  personal. 
"  Confound  Grotius  !  confound  Vattel !  confound  Puff- 
endorf!"  said  he;  "this  is  a  mere  matter  between  Jim 
Monroe  and  me." 


Balls  and  Parties. 


163 


Having  received  a  complimentary  letter  from  Presi- 
dent Bustamente,  of  Mexico,  General  Jackson  sent  it  to 
the  Department  of  State  with  this  indorsement :  "  Mr. 
Van  Bnren  will  reply  to  this  letter  of  General  Busta- 
mente with  the  frankness  of  a  soldier."  When  this 

reached  Mr.  Van 
Buren  he  laughed 
heartily,  as  he  was 
neither  a  soldier 
nor  remarkable  for 
frankness,  and  the 
clerks  could  not 
keep  a  secret. 

Although  many 
old  citizens,  whose 
relatives  and  near 
friends  had  been 
turned  out  of  their 
pleasant  offices  by 
the  Jackson  Ad- 
ministration, kept 
quite  aloof  from 
the  White  House, 
there  was  no  lack 
of  social  enjoy- 
ments at  Wash- 
ington. Mr.  For- 
syth,the  Secretary 
of  State,  gave  a  series  of  balls,  and  there  were  large  par- 
ties at  the  residences  of  Mr.  Dickerson,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  Major-General  Macomb,  General  Miller,  and 
other  prominent  men,  each  one  in  numbers  and  guests 
almost  a  repetition  of  the  other.  Mr.  Van  Buren  was 
at  all  of  them,  shaking  hands  with  everybody,  glad  to 


GENERAL  JAMES  MILLER. 


164  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

see  everybody,  asking  about  everybody's  friends,  and 
trusting  that  everybody  was  well.  Colonel  Richard  M. 
Johnson  was  also  to  be  seen  at  all  public  gatherings, 
looking,  in  his  scarlet  -waistcoat  and  ill-fitting  coat,  not 
as  the  killer  of  Tecumseh,  but  as  the  veritable  Tecum- 
seh  himself.  Mr.  Webster  was  seldom  seen  at  public 
parties,  but  Messrs.  Clay  and  Calhoun  were  generally 
present,  with  the  foreign  Ministers  and  their  suites, 
who  were  the  only  wearers  of  mustaches  in .  those 
days.  There  were  the  magnates  of  the  Senate  and 
the  House,  each  one  great  in  his  own  estimation,  with 
the  chevaliers  cCindustrie,  who  lived  as  by  their  wits, 
upon  long  credits  and  new  debts,  and  there  were 
strangers  congregated  from  all  sections  of  the  country, 
some  having  business  before  Congress,  and  others 
having  come  to  see  how  the  country  was  governed. 
Every  one,  on  his  arrival,  would  take  a  carriage  and 
leave  cards  for  the  heads  of  departments,  foreign  Min- 
isters, leading  army  and  navy  officers,  and  prominent 
members  of  Congress.  This  would  bring  in  return 
the  cards  of  these  magnates  and  invitations  to  their 
next  party. 

Mr.  Clay  was  a  good  raconteur,  and  always  had  a 
story  to  illustrate  his  opinions  advanced  in  conversa- 
tion. One  day,  when  he  had  been  complimented  on 
his  neat,  precise  handwriting,  always  free  from  blots, 
interlineations,  and  erasures,  he  spoke  about  the  im- 
portance of  writing  legibly,  and  told  an  amusing  story 
about  a  Cincinnati  grocery-man,  who,  finding  the 
market  short  of  cranberries,  and  under  the  impression 
that  the  fruit  could  be  purchased  cheaply  at  a  little 
town  in  Kentucky,  wrote  to  a  customer  there  acquaint- 
ing him  with  the  fact  and  requesting  him  to  send  "  one 
hundred  bushels  per  Simmons  "  (the  wagoner  usually 


Henry  Clay*s  Stories.  165 

sent) .  The  correspondent,  a  plain,  uneducated  man,  had 
considerable  difficulty  in  deciphering  the  fashionable 
scrawl  common  with  merchants'  clerks  of  late  years, 
and  the  most  important  word,  "  cranberries,"  he  failed 
to  make  out,  but  he  did  plainly  and  clearly  read — one 
hundred  bushels  persimmons.  As  the  article  was 
growing  all  around  him,  all  the  boys  in  the  neighbor- 
hood were  set  to  gathering  it,  and  the  wagoner  made 
his  appearance  in  due  time  in  Cincinnati  with  eighty 
bushels,  all  that  the  wagon  body  would*  hold,  and  a 
line  from  the  country  merchant  that  the  remainder 
would  follow  the  next  trip.  An  explanation  soon 
ensued,  but  the  customer  insisted  that  the  Cincinnati 
house  should  have  written  by  Simmons  and  not  per 
Simmons.  Who  paid  the  loss  history  doth  not 
record. 

One  more  of  Mr.  Clay's  stories  which  he  used  to  tell 
with  dramatic  effect :  As  he  was  coming  here  one 
November  the  stage  stopped  for  the  passengers  to  get 
supper  at  a  little  town  on  the  mountain  side,  where 
there  had  been  a  militia  muster  that  afternoon.  When 
the  stage  was  ready  to  start,  the  Colonel,  in  full  regi- 
mentals, but  somewhat  inebriated,  insisted  on  riding 
with  the  driver,  thinking,  doubtless,  that  the  fresh  air 
would  restore  him.  It  was  not  long,  though,  before 
he  fell  off  in  the  mud.  The  coach  stopped,  of  course, 
for  the  Colonel  to  regain  his  seat.  He  sqon  gathered 
up,  when  the  following  colloquy  ensued :  "  Well,  driver 
(hie), we've  had  quite  a  turn  (hie)  over,  haint  we?" 
"  No,  we  have  not  turned  over  at  all."  "  I  say  (hie) 
we  have."  "  No,  you  are  mistaken,  you  only  fell  off." 
"I  say  we  (hie)  have;  I'll  leave  it  (hie)  to  the  com- 
(hie)  pany.  Haven't  we  (hie)  had  a  turn  (hie)  over, 
gentlemen?"  Being  assured  they  had  not,  "Well, 


r66  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

driver  (hie),"  said  lie,  "if  I'd  known  that  (hie)  I 
wouldn't  a  got  out." 

The  automaton  chess-player  and  other  pieces  of 
mechanism  exhibited  by  Monsieur  Maelzel  were  very 
popular  at  Washington.  The  chess-player  was  the 
figure  of  a  Turk  of  the  natural  size,  sitting  behind  a 
chest  three  feet  and  a-half  in  height,  to  which  was 
attached  the  wooden  seat  on  which  the  figure  sat.  On 
the  top  of  the  chest  was  an  immovable  chess-board, 
upon  which  the  eyes  of  the  figure  were  fixed.  Its 
right  hand  and  arm  were  extended  on  the  chest,  and 
its  left,  somewhat  raised,  held  a  pipe.  Several  doors 
in  the  chest  and  in  the  body  of  the  figure  having  been 
opened,  and  a  candle  held  within  the  cavities  thus  dis- 
played, the  doors  were  closed,  the  exhibitor  wound  up 
the  works,  placed  a  cushion  under  the  arm  of  the 
figure,  and  challenged  any  individual  of  the  company 
present  to  play. 

In  playing,  the  automaton  always  made  choice  of 
the  first  move  and  the  white  pieces.  It  also  played 
with  the  left  arm — the  inventor,  as  it  was  said,  not 
having  perceived  the  mistake  till  his  work  was  too  far 
advanced  to  alter  it.  The  hand  and  fingers  opened  on 
touching  the  piece,  which  it  grasped  and  conveyed  to 
the  proper  square.  After  a  move  made  by  its  antago- 
nist, the  automaton  paused  for  a  few  moments,  as  if 
contemplating  the  game.  On  giving  check  to  the  king 
it  made  a  signal  with  its  head.  If  a  false  move  was 
made  by  its  antagonist  it  tapped  on  the  chest  impa- 
tiently, replaced  the  piece,  and  claimed  the  move  for 
itself  as  an  advantage.  If  the  antagonist  delayed  any 
considerable  time  the  automaton  tapped  smartly  on  the 
chest  with  the  right  hand.  At  the  close  of  the  game 
the  automaton  moved  the  knight,  with  its  proper 


MaelzeVs  Marvels.  167 

motion,  over  each  of  the  sixty-three  squares  of  the 
board  in  turn,  without  missing  one,  and  without  a 
single  return  to  the  same  square. 

Although  positive  proof  was  wanting,  it  was  gener- 
ally believed  that  the  movements  of  the  figure  were 
directed  by  a  slender  person  adroitly  concealed  behind 
what  was  apparently  a  mass  of  machinery.  This  ma- 
•  chinery  was  always  exhibited  when  in  a  fixed  state, 
but  carefully  excluded  from  view  when  in  motion.  It 
was  noticed  by  anxious  observers  that  no  variation  ever 
took  place  in  the  precise  order  in  which  the  doors  were 
opened,  thus  giving. the  concealed  player  an  opportu- 
nity to  change  his  position.  In  what  was  apparently 
the  winding  up  of  the  machine  the  key  always  ap- 
peared limited  to  a  certain  number  of  revolutions,  how- 
ever different  the  number  of  moves  in  the  preceding 
game  might  have  been.  On  one  occasion  sixty-three 
'moves  were  executed  without  winding  up,  and  once  it 
was  observed  that  it  was  wound  up  without  the  inter- 
vention of  a  single  move. 

Monsieur  Maelzel  also  exhibited  an  automaton  tram- 
peter,  life  size,  attired  in  a  full  British  uniform.  It 
was  rolled  out  before  the  audience  and  performed  sev- 
eral marches  and  patriotic  airs.  A  miniature  rope- 
dancer  performed  some  curious  feats,  and  small  figures, 
when  their  hands  were  shaken,  ejaculated  the  words, 
"  Papa !"  and  "  Mamma !"  in  a  life-like  manner.  But 
the  crowning  glory  of  Monsieur  Maelzel's  exhibition 
was  a  panorama,  scenic  and  mechanical,  of  the  "  Burn- 
ing of  Moscow."  The  view  of  the  Russian  capital, 
with  its  domes  and  minarets,  was  a  real  work  of  art. 
Then  the  great  bell  of  the  Kremlin  began  to  toll,  and 
the  flames  could  be  seen  making  their  way  from  build- 
ing to  building.  A  bridge  in  the  foreground  was  cov- 


i68 


Ferity  s  Reminiscences. 


ered  with  figures,  representing  the  flying  citizens 
escaping  with  their  household  treasures.  They  were 
followed  by  a  regiment  of  French  infantry,  headed  by 
its  band,  and  marching  with  the  precision  of  veterans. 
Meanwhile  the  flames  had  begun  to  ascend  the  spires 
and  domes,  and  the  deep  tolling  of  the  bells  was 
echoed  by  the  inspiring  strains  of  martial  music.  At 
last,  as  the  last  platoon  of  Frenchmen  crossed  the 
bridge,  the  Kremlin 
was  blown  up  with  a 
loud  explosion,  and 
the  curtain  fell. 

Mrs.  Alexander 
Hamilton,  the  widow 
of  the  founder  of  our 
financial  system,  pass- 
ed a  good  portion  of 
the  latter  part  of  her 
life  at  Washington, 
and  finally  died  there. 
She  wTas  the  first  to 
introduce  ice-cream  at 
the  national  metropo- 
lis, and  she  used  to 
relate  with  rare  hu- 
mor the  delight  displaced  by  President  Jackson  when 
he  first  tasted  it.  He  liked  it  much,  and  swore, 
"  By  the  Eternal !"  that  he  would  have  ices  at  the 
White  House.  The  guests  at  the  next  reception  were 
agreeably  surprised  with  this  delicacy,  especially  those 
from  the  rural  districts,  who,  after  approaching  it  sus- 
piciously, melting  each  spoonful  with  their  breath 
before  consuming  it,  expressed  their  satisfaction  by  eat- 
ing all  that  could  be  provided.  Mrs.  Hamilton  was 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 


High-Priced  Pamphlets. 


169 


very  much  troubled  by  the  pamphlet  which  her  hus- 
band had  published  when  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
in  which  he  avowed  an  intrigue  with  the  wife  of  one  of 
his  clerks,  to  exculpate  himself  from  a  charge  that  he 
had  permitted  this  clerk  to  speculate  on  the  action  of 
the  Treasury  Department.  Mrs.  Hamilton  for  some 
years  paid  dealers  in  second-hand  books  five  dollars  a 
copy  for  every  copy  of  this  pamphlet  which  they 
brought  her.  One  year  the  number  presented  was  un- 
usually large,  and  she  accidentally  ascertained  that  a 
cunning  dealer  in  old  books  in  New  York  had  had  the 
pamphlet  reprinted,  and  was  selling  her  copies  at  five 
dollars  each  which  had  cost  him  but  about  ten  cents 
each.  She  possessed  a  good  many  souvenirs  of  her 
illustrious  husband,  one  of  which,  now  in  the  writer's 
possession,  was  the  copper  camp-kettle  which  General 
Hamilton  had  while  serving  on  the  staff  of  the  illus- 
trious Washington. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  STEPHENS  was  born  in  Wilkes  County,  Georgia,  February  nth,  1812 ; 
was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  December  4th,  1843,  to  March  3d,  1859 ;  was  Vice- 
President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy;  was  again  a  member  of  thft  United  States  Congress, 
October  isth,  1877,10  January  151,1882;  was  Governor  of  Georgia*  and  died  at  Crawfordville,  Georgia, 
March  4th,  1883.  » 


CHAPTER  XII. 

JACKSON    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES. 

DEMOCRATIC  REJOICING— ATTEMPT  AT  ASSASSINATION — THE  POLITICAL 
GUILLOTINE — THE  VICAR  OP  BRAY — DANIEL  WEBSTER'S  MEMORY — 
BAYARD,  OF  DELAWARE — THE  CLAYTONS — PEARCE,  OF  MARYLAND — 
THE  CLASSICAL  AND  THE  VERNACULAR — BOULANGER'S — LOCATION  OF 
THE  NEW  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT — HACKETT,  THE  COMEDIAN — A 
JEALOUS  ARTIST — SUMNER'S  FIRST  VISIT  TO  WASHINGTON — THE  SU- 
PREME COURT  AND  ITS  JUSTICES. 

PRESIDENT  JACKSON'S  friends  celebrated  the 
8th  of  January,  1835,  by  giving  a  grand  ban- 
quet. It  was  not  only  the  anniversary  of  the 
battle  of  New  Orleans,  but  on  that  day  the  last  install- 
ment of  the  national  debt  had  been  paid.  Colonel 
Benton  presided,  and  when  the  cloth  was  removed  he 
delivered  an  exulting  speech.  "  The  national  debt," 
he  exclaimed,  "is  paid!  This  month  of  January,  1835, 
in  the  fifty-eighth  year  of  the  Republic,  Andrew  Jack- 
son being  President,  the  national  debt  is  paid !  and  the 
apparition,  so  long  unseen  on  earth — a  great  nation 
without  a  national  debt ! — stands  revealed  to  the  aston- 
ished vision  of  a  wondering  world !  Gentlemen,"  he 
concluded,  "  my  heart  is  in  this  double  celebration, 
and  I  offer  you  a  sentiment  which,  coming  direct  from 
my  own  bosom,  will  find  its  response  in  yours  :  '  PRESI- 
DENT JACKSON  :  May  the  evening  of  his  days  be  as 
tranquil  and  as  happy  for  himself  as  their  meridian 
170 


Shooting  at  Jackson. 


171 


has  been  resplendent,  glorious,  and  beneficent  for  his 
country.' ' 

A  few  weeks  later,  as  President  Jackson  was  leaving 
the  Capitol,  where  he  had  been  to  attend  the  funeral 
of  Representative  Davis;  of  South  Carolina,  a  man 
advanced  toward  him  from  the  crowd,  leveled  a  pistol, 


ATTEMPTED  SHOOTING   OF  GENERAL  JACKSON. 

and  fired  it.  The  percussion-cap  exploded  without  dis- 
charging the  pistol,  and  the  man,  dropping  it,  raised  a 
second  one,  which  also  missed  fire.  General  Jackson's 
rage  was  roused  by  the  explosion  of  the  cap,  and,  lift- 
ing his  cane,  he  rushed  toward  his  assailant,  who  was 
knocked  down  by  Lieutenant  Gedney ,  of  the  Navy,  before 


172  Perlefs  Reminiscences. 

Jackson  could  reach  him.  The  man  was  an  English 
house-painter  named  Lawrence,  who  had  been  for  some 
months  out  of  work,  and  who,  having  heard  that  the 
opposition  of  General  Jackson  to  the  United  States 
Bank  had  paralyzed  the  industries  of  the  country,  had 
conceived  the  project  of  assassinating  him.  The  Presi- 
dent himself  was  not  disposed  to  believe  that  the  plot 
originated  in  the  crazy  brain  of  Lawrence,  whom  he 
regarded  as  the  tool  of  political  opponents.  A  pro- 
tracted examination,  however,  failed  to  afford  the  slight- 
est proof  of  this  theory,  although  General  Jackson  never 
doubted  it  for  a  moment.  He  was  fortified  in  this  opin- 
ion by  the  receipt  of  anonymous  letters,  threatening 
assassination,  all  of  which  he  briefly  indorsed  and  sent 
to  Mr.  Blair  for  publication  in  the  Globe. 

The  heads  of  the  executive  departments,  believing 
that  "  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,"  did  not  leave  an 
acknowledged  anti-Jackson  Democrat  in  office,  either  in 
Washington  City  or  elsewhere,  with  a  very  few  excep- 
tions. One  of  these  was  General  Miller,  Collector  of 
the  Port  of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  The  leading  Jack- 
son Democrats  in  Massachusetts  petitioned  the  Presi- 
dent for  his  removal  as  incompetent  and  a  political  oppo- 
nent, and  they  presented  the  name  of  a  stanch  Jackson 
Democrat  for  the  position.  The  appointment  was 
made,  and  the  name  of  the  new  Collector  was  sent  to 
the  Senate  for  confirmation.  Colonel  Benton,  who  had 
been  made  acquainted  with  the  facts,  requested  that  no 
action  be  taken  until  he  could  converse  with  the  Presi- 
dent. Going  to  the  White  House  the  next  morning, 
he  said  to  General  Jackson,  "  Do  you  know  who  is 
the  Collector  of  Customs  at  Salem,  Mr.  President, 
whom  you  are  about  to  remove?"  "No,  sir,"  replied 
General  Jackson  ;  "  I  can't  think  of  his  name,  but  Nat. 


True  to  a  Brave  Soldier. 

Green  and  Ben.  Hallett  have  told  me  that  he  is  an  in- 
competent old  New  England  Hartford  Convention 
Federalist."  "  Mr.  President,"  said  Colonel  Benton, 
"  the  man  you  propose  to  turn  out  is  General  Miller, 
who  fought  so  bravely  at  the  battle  of  Bridgewater." 
"  What!"  exclaimed  General  Jackson,  "not  the  brave 
Miller  who,  when  asked  if  he  could  take  the  British 
battery,  exclaimed,  'I'll  try.''  "It  is  the  same  man, 
Mr.  President,4"  responded  Benton.  General  Jackson 
rang  his  bell,  and  when  a  servant  appeared,  said,  "Tell 
Colonel  Donelson  I  want  him,  quick !"  When  the 
private  secretary  entered,  the  President  said,  "  Donelson, 
I  want  the  name  of  the  fellow  I  nominated  for  Collector 
of  Salem  withdrawn  instantly.  Then  write  a  letter  to 
General  Miller  and  tell  him  that  he  shall  be  Collector 
of  Salem  so  long  as  Andrew  Jackson  is  President." 

Learning  that  some  of  the  Pension  Agents  had  been 
witholding  portions  of  the  pensions  due  to  Revolu- 
tionary veterans,  General  Jackson  had  the  charges 
thoroughly  investigated,  and  a  list  of  the  pensioners 
printed,  showing  what  each  one  was  entitled  to  receive. 
This  disclosed  the  fact  that  some  of  the  Pension  Agents 
had  been  continuing  to  draw  the  pensions  of  deceased 
soldiers  for  years  after  their  death,  besides  retaining 
portions  of  the  pensions  of  others.  Robert  Temple, 
Pension  Agent  in  Vermont,  on  hearing  of  the  proposed 
investigation,  hastened  to  Washington,  where  he  en- 
deavored to  bribe  a  clerk  to  falsify  the  list  made  out  for 
the  printer.  The  clerk  obtained  from  him  a  list  of  sixty 
names  of  deceased  soldiers  whose  pensions  he  had  con- 
tinued to  draw,  and  gave  it  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 
Temple,  on  learning  this,  committed  suicide. 

There  were  a  few  veteran  office-holders  at  Washing- 
ton, whose  ancestors  had  been  appointed  under  Fed- 


174  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

eral  rule,  but  who  had  managed  to  veer  around  into 
Jackson  Democracy.  Mr.  Webster,  in  speaking  one 
day  of  a  Philadelphia  family  which  had  thus  kept  in 
place,  said  that  they  reminded  him  of  Simeon  Alleyn, 
Vicar  of  Bray,  in  Old  England,  who  steered  his  bark 
safely  through  four  conflicting  successive  reigns.  A 
bland  gentleman,  he  was  first  a  Papist,  then  a  Protest- 
ant, next  a  Papist,  and  lastly  a  Protestant  again.  "  He 
must  have  been  at  times,"  said  Mr.  Webstej-,  "  terribly 
confused  between  gowns  and  robes,  and,"  continued  the 
Senator,  "I  can  fancy  him  listening  at  his  window  to 
the  ballad  written  on  him,  as  trolled  forth  by  some 
graceless  varlets : 

"  '  To  teach  my  flock  I  never  missed  ; 

Kings  were  by  God  appointed, 
And  they  are  damned  who  dare  resist 

Or  touch  the  Lord's  anointed  ; 
And  this  in  law  I  will  maintain 

Until  my  dying  day,  sir, 
That  whosoever  king  shall  reign, 

I'll  be  the  Vicar  of  Bray,  sir.'  " 

Mr.  Webster  was  not  only  fond  of  repeating  quota- 
tions from  the  old  English  poets,  but  also  verses  from 
the  old  Sternhold  and  Hopkins  hymn-book,  which  he 
had  studied  in  the  Salisbury  meeting-house  when  a  boy, 
and  sometimes  when  alone  he  would  sing,  or  rather 
chant,  them  in  his  deep  voice,  without  a  particle  of 
melody.  His  favorite  verses  were  the  following  trans- 
lation of  the  xviiith  Psalm  : 

"  The  Lord  descended  from  above, 
And  bow'd  the  heavens  high  ; 
And  underneath  His  feet  He  cast 
The  darkness  of  the  sky. 

"  On  cherubs  and  on  cherubims 

Full  royally  He  rode, 
And  on  the  wings  of  all  the  winds 
Came  flying  all  abroad." 


Delaware  Senators.  175 

Late  in  the  Jackson  Administration,  Richard  H. 
Bayard  came  to  Washington  as  a  Senator  from  Dela- 
ware, to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Ar- 
nold Naudain.  He  was  the  son  of  James  Asheton 
Bayard,  originally  a  stanch  Federalist,  who  had  fol- 
lowed his  father-in-law,  Richard  Bassett,  as  a  Senator 
from  Delaware,  and  whose  vote  had  made  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson President  of  the  United  States  instead  of  Aaron 
Burr.  He  had  afterward  been  one  of  the  Commission 
which  negotiated  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  and  he  educated 
his  sons  to  succeed  him  in  the  Senate,  and  in  turn  to 
qualify  a  grandson  to  represent  his  State  in  the  upper 
branch  of  the  National  Council.  No  one  family  has 
furnished  so  many  United  States  Senators,  and  they 
have  all  been  inspired  by  the  knightly  courtesy  of  the 
Bayard  of  the  olden  time,  who  was  "  without  fear  and 
without  reproach." 

The  Democratic  Bayards  were  antagonized  in  Jack- 
son's time  by  the  Whig  Claytons,  the  other  Delaware 
chair  in  the  United  States  Senate  having  been  occupied 
since  1829  by  John  Middleton  Clayton.  He  was  an 
accomplished  lawyer,  and  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Whig  party.  Under  his  direction  Delaware  was  a 
Whig  State,  and  had  it  been  a  larger  one,  Mr.  Clayton 
would  doubtless  have  been  nominated  to  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  if  not  to  the  Presidency.  He  was  zealously 
devoted  to  his  party,  and  when,  later  in  life,  a  delega- 
tion waited  on  him  to  question  some  of  his  acts  as  not 
in  accordance  with  Whig  principles,  he  rose,  and  draw- 
ing himself  up  to  his  full  height,  exclaimed  :  "  What ! 
unwhig  me?  Me,  who  was  a  Whig  when  you  gentlemen 
were  riding  cornstalk  horses  in  your  fathers'  barn- 
yards ?"  The  delegation  asked  his  pardon  for  having 
doubted  his  party  loyalty,  and  at  once  withdrew. 


176  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

James  Alfred  Pearce,  of  Maryland,  entered  the 
House  of  Representatives  during  the  Jackson  Admin-' 
istration,  and  was  successively  re-elected  (with  the 
exception  of  a  single  term)  until  he  was  transferred  to 
the  Senate  in  1843,  and  served  in  that  body  until  his 
death  in  1862.  He  was  another  "wheel  horse"  of  the 
Whig  party,  although  he  shrank  from  political  contro- 
versy. His  home  friends,  who  were  very  proud  of  his 
reputation,  brought  him  forward  at  one  time  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  Presidency.  But  he  refused  to  permit 
his  name  to  be  used,  on  the  ground  that  the  burdens 
of  the  White  House  were  too  costly  a  price  to  pay  for 
its  honors. 

Mr.  Pearce  was  a  devoted  friend  of  the  Congressional 
Library,  and  during  his  long  service  on  the  Committee 
having  it  in  charge  he  selected  the  books  purchased. 
In  doing  this  he  excluded  all  works  calculated  in  his 
opinion  to  engender  sectional  differences,  and  when 
the  Atlantic  Monthly  was  established  he  refused  to 
order  it  for  the  Library.  He  was  the  founder  of  the 
Botanic  Garden,  and  the  Coast  Survey  was  another 
object  of  his  especial  attention  and  favor. 

Mr.  Pearce's  care  in  the  choice  of  books  was  by  no 
means  a  notion  of  his  own.  From  the  founding  of  the 
Library  it  was  the  policy  of  many  of  its  warmest  friends 
to  exclude  every  publication  which  would  engender  and 
foster  sectional  differences.  They  went  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  concealing  difficulties,  rather  than  of  facing 
them  squarely.  Very  different  is  the  broader  policy 
now  maintained  in  this  great  library,  on  whose  shelves 
every  copyrighted  book  of  the  United  States  now  finds 
a  place. 

Mr.  Pearce  was  a  type  of  the  gentleman  of  the  old 
school.  Tall,  with  a  commanding  figure,  expressive 


Oratory  and  Anecdote. 


177 


features,  blue  eyes,  and  light  hair,  he  was  a  brilliant 
conversationalist  and  a  welcome  guest  at  dinner. 

Senator  William  C.  Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  was 
not  only  one  of  the  foremost  orators  in  the.  Senate,  but 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  LIBRARY. 


a  delightful  conversationalist,  with  an  inexhaustible 
fund  of  reminiscence  and  anecdote.  One  of  his  col- 
leagues in  the  House  of  Representatives,  Mr.  Warren 
R.  Davis,  of  the  Pendleton  district,  was  equally  famed  as 


i/8  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

a  story-teller,  and  when  they  met  at  a  social  board  they 
monopolized  the  conversation,  to  the  delight  of  the  other 
guests,  who  listened  with  attention  and  with  admiration. 

One  evening — as  the  story  is  told — at  a  dinner-party, 
over  the  Madeira  and  walnuts,  which  formed  the  invaria- 
ble last  course  in  those  days,  Mr.  Preston  launched  forth 
in  a  eulogium  on  the  extraordinary  power  of  condensa- 
tion, in  both  thought  and  expression,  which  characterized 
the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  beyond  anything 
of  the  kind  in  modern  tongues.  On  it  he  literally  "dis< 
coursed  eloquent  music,"  adorning  it  with  frequent  and 
apt  illustration,  and  among  other  examples  citing  the 
celebrated  admonition  of  the  Spartan  mother  to  her 
warrior  son  on  the  eve  of  battle — "With  your  shield  or 
upon  it !"  The  whole  party  were  delighted  with  the 
rich  tones  and  classic  teachings  of  the  gifted  colloquist, 
except  his  equally  gifted  competitor  for  conversational 
laurels,  who,  notwithstanding  his  enforced  admiration, 
sat  uneasily  under  the  prolonged  disquisition,  anxiously 
waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  take  his  place  in  the  pic- 
ture. At  length  a  titillation  seizing  the  olfactory  nerve 
of  Mr.  Preston,  he  paused  to  take  a  pinch  of  snuff,  and 
Mr.  Davis  immediately  filled  up  the  vacuum,  taking  up 
the  line  of  speech  in  this  wise : 

"  I  have  listened,"  said  he,  "with  equal  edification  and 
pleasure  to  the  classic  discourse  of  our  friend,  sparkling 
with  gems  alike  of  intellect  and  fancy,  but  I  differ  from 
him  toto  c&lo.  He  may  say  what  he  will  as  to  the  superior 
vigor  and  condensation  of  thought  and  speech  charac- 
teristic of  classic  Greece  and  Rome ;  but,  for  my  part, 
I  think  there  is  nothing  equal  to  our  own  vernacular  in 
these  particulars,  and  I  am  fortunately  able,  although 
from  a  humble  sourc^  to  give  you  a  striking  and  con- 
clusive example  and  illustration  of  the  fact. 


The  Vernacular. 

"  As  I  was  returning  home  from  Congress,  some 
years  since,  I  approached  a  river  in  North  Carolina 
which  had  been  swollen  by  a  recent  freshet,  and  ob- 
served a  country  girl  fording  it  in  a  merry  mood,  and 
carrying  a  piggin  of  butter  on  her  head.  As  I  arrived 
at  the  river's  edge  the  rustic  Naiad  emerged  from  the 
watery  element.  '  My  girl,'  said  I,  '  how  deep's  the 
water  and  what's  the  price  of  butter?'  'Up  to  your 
waist  and  nine  pence,'  was  the  prompt  and  significant 
response !  Let  my  learned  friend  beat  that  if  he  can, 
in  brevity  and  force  of  expression,  by  aught  to  be  found 
in  all  his  treasury  of  classic  lore  ?" 

A  roar  of  laughter  followed  this  humorous  explosion, 
and  a  unanimous  vote  in  favor  of  the  vernacular 
awarded  the  palm  to  the  distinguished  and  successful 
wag  over  his  classical  but  crest-fallen  competitor. 

The  first  restaurant  established  in  Washington  was 
by  a  Frenchman  named  Boulanger,  who  was  a  pupil 
of  the  famous  Chevet,  of  the  Palais  Royal  at  Paris. 
His  cozy  establishment  was  on  G  Street,  just  west  of 
the  War  Department,  where  he  used  to  serve  good 
cheer  to  General  Jackson,  Van  Bureii,  Clay,  Sir  Charles 
Vaughan,  and  other  notables.  His  soups  were  gastro- 
nomic triumphs,  and  he  was  an  adept  in  serving  oysters, 
terrapin,  reed-birds,  quails,  ortolan,  and  other  delicacies 
in  the  first  style  of  culinary  perfection.  His  brandies, 
of  his  own  importation,  were  of  the  choicest  "bead  and 
brand,"  and  he  obtained  from  Alexandria  some  of  the 
choice  old  Madeira  which  had  been  imported  before  the 
Revolution  in  return  for  cargoes  of  oak  staves.  Boul- 
anger did  not  cherish  flattering  recollections  of  General 
Jackson's  taste,  but  Mr.  Van  Buren  used  to  compliment 
his  savory  repasts  and  enjoy  artistic  cheer. 

The  Treasury  Department,  which  had  been  destroyed 


i8o 


Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 


by  fire,  was  rebuilt  on  a  plan  approved  by  President 
Jackson.  The  eastern  front,  of  Virginia  sandstone, 
was  a  colonnade  copied  from  the  Temple  of  Minerva 
Pallas,  at  Athens,  three  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet 
long,  with  thirty  Ionic  columns.  The  artist  was  Robert 

Mills,  and  he  wish- 
ed to  set  the  build- 
ing back  some  fifty 
feet  from  the  line 
of  the  street,  to 


TREASURY   DEPARTMENT. 


give  more  effect  to  the  architecture,  but  General  Jack- 
son directed  him  to  bring  it  forward  to  the  building  line 
of  the  street,  and  stuck  his  cane  in  the  ground  to  show 
where  this  was.  Of  course,  he  was  obeyed. 

John  Quincy  Adams  used  to  occasionally  attend  the 
theatre,  and  he  was  especially  pleased  with  Hackett  as 
Falstaff.  Hackett  looked  the  fat  knight  well,  and  his 
face  interpreted  many  of  his  remarks  and  situations 


Hackett  and  Crockett.  181 

explicitly.  He  delivered  the  soliloquy  upon  honor 
with  fine  effect,  and  the  scenes  at  Gadd's  Hill  with 
Bardolph  and  his  nose,  with  Mrs.  Quickly,  and  with 
the  Prince  when  detected  in  his  exaggeration,  were  very 
humorous  and  well  pointed. 

When  Mr.  Hackett  took  his  benefit  it  was  announced 
that  at  the  particular  request  of  Colonel  David  Crockett, 
of  Tennessee,  the  comedian  would  appear  on  the 
boards  in  his  favorite  character  of  "  Nimrod  Wildfire," 
in  the  play  called  "  The  Kentuckian ;  or,  a  Trip  to 
New  York."  This  brought  out  a  house  full  to  over- 
flowing. At  seven  o'clock  the  Colonel  was  escorted  by 
the  manager  through  the  crowd  to  a  front  seat  reserved 
for  him.  As  soon  as  he  was  recognized  by  the  audi- 
ence they  made  the  very  house  shake  with  hurrahs  for 
Colonel  Crockett,  "  Go  ahead !" ."  I  wish  I  may.be 
shot !"  "  Music  !  let  us  have  Crockett's  March  !"  After 
some  time  the  curtain  rose,  and  Hackett  appeared  in 
hunting  costume,  bowed  to  the  audience,  and  then  to 
Colonel  Crockett.  The  compliment  was  reciprocated 
by  the  Colonel,  to  the  no  small  amusement  and  gratifi- 
cation of  the  spectators,  and  the  play  then  went  on. 

When  Hiram  Powers  came  to  Washington,  on  his 
way  to  Italy,  he  was  rather  mortified  by  the  remark  of 
a  jealous  Italian  artist,  who  saw  in  him  a  rival : 
"When  you  have  been  ten  years  in  Italy,  you  may, 
perhaps,  be  able  to  chisel  a  little ;"  before,  however,  a 
fourth  of  that  time  had  elapsed,  Powers  had  finished, 
from  the  rough  marble  block,  the  admirable  bust  of 
Chief  Justice  Matshalt  which  now  graces  the  hall  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Among  the  visitors  at  Washington  early  in  1834 
was  Charles  Sunmer,  then  a  tall,  slim,  ungainly  young 
man,  twenty-three  years  of  age,  who  was  a  student  at 


182 


Perley^s  Reminiscences, 


law  in  Boston,  but  not  admitted  to  practice.  He  was 
introduced  by  his  friend,  Mr.  Justice  Story,  to  Chief 
Justice  Marshall  and  Justices  Thompson,  Duval,  and 
McLean,  and  was  invited  to  dine  with  them.  It  is  not 
known  whether  Justice  Story  told  him — as  he  told 


CHARLES  SUMNER  IN   1834. 

Edmund  Quincy — that  the  Court  was  so  aesthetic  that 
they  denied  themselves  wine,  except  in  wet  weather. 
"  But,"  added  the  commentator  on  the*  Constitution, 
"  what  I  say  about  wine,  sir,  gives  you  our  rule,  but  it 
does  sometimes  happen  that  the  Chief  Justice  will  say 
*-o  me,  when  the  cloth  is  removed,  '  Brother  Story,  step 


Simmer's  First  Visit.  183 

to  the  window  and  see  if  it  does  not  look  like  rain.' 
If  I  tell  him  that  the  sun  is  shining,  Judge  Marshall 
will  reply :  'All  the  better,  for  our  jurisdiction  extends 
over  so  large  a  territory  that  the  doctrine  of^chances 
makes  it  certain  that  it  must  be  raining  somewhere, 
and  it  will  be  safe  to  take  something.' ' 

Mr.  Sumner  used  to  attend  the  sittings  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  which  were  commenced  at  eleven  and 
generally  lasted  until  half-past  three.  The  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  met  at  noon  and  continued 
in  session  until  four  and  sometimes  five  o'clock.  The 
Senate  generally  adjourned  over  from  Thursday  until 
Monday,  and  the  House  rarely  sat  on  Saturday. 

Among  those  with  whom  young  Sumner  became 
acquainted  at  Washington  was  Dr.  Francis  Lieber,  a 
well-educated  German,  who  had  fought  at  Waterloo. 
He  was  for  more  than  twenty  years  a  professor  in  the 
University  of  South  Carolina,  vouched  for  as  "  sound 
on  the  slavery  question,"  but  he  afterward  became  a 
bitter  opponent  of  the  South  and  of  its  "  peculiar  insti- 
tution." He  was  a  prolific  contributor  to  the  press, 
and  he  never  hesitated  about  enlisting  the  services  of 
friends  and  acquaintances  when  they  could  procure 
materials  for  his  use. 


ANDREW  STEVENSON  was  born  in  Culpepper  County,  Virginia,  in  1784  ;  was  a  Representative  from 
Virginiain  Congress,  1823-1834;  was  Minister  to  Great  Britain,  1836-1841 ;  died  in  Albemarle  County, 
Virginia,  January  25th,  1857. 


fcHAPTER  XIII. 
JACKSON'S  LAST  YEAR  IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

VAN  BUREN  AS  VICE-PRESIDENT—HENRY  CLAY  DEFIANT  AS  THE  CHAM- 
PION OF  THE  BANK — WASHINGTON'S  CENTENNIAL  BIRTHDAY— RE- 
MOVAL OF  HIS  REMAINS — THE  DECAPITATION  OF  GENERAL  JACKSON — 
A  PLUCKY  CAPE  COD  MARINER — THE  PRESIDENT  AT  THE  RACE-TRACK 
— AN  OLD-TIME  COCK  FIGHT — WEDDING  OF  ROBERT  E.  LEE  AT  AR- 
LINGTON—THE PUBLIC  GARDENER— MISS  FANNY  KEMBLE— CHEESE 
RECEPTION  AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

MR.  VAN  BUREN,  like  his  predecessor,  Mr. 
Calhoun,  suffered  mental  martyrdom  while 
presiding  over  the  Senate  as  Vice-President. 
His  manner  was  bland,  as  he  thumped  with  his  mallet 
when  the  galleries  were  out  of  order,  or  declared  that 
"  The  ayes  have  it/'  or,  "  The  memorial  is  referred." 
He  received  his  fusillade  of  snubs  and  sneers  as  the 
ghost  of  Creusa  received  the  embraces  of  ^3£neas — he 
heeded  them  not.  He  leaned  back  his  head,  threw  one 
leg  upon  the  other,  and  sat  as  if  he  were  a  pleasant 
sculptured  image,  destined  for  that  niche  of  his  life. 

Henry  Clay,  then  in  his  prime,  was  the  champion  of 
the  United  States  Bank  in  the  Senate.  One  day  in 
debate  he  broke  out  in  the  most  violent  appeal  to  Mar- 
tin Van  Buren,  then  presiding  in  the  Senate,  to  go  to 
the  President  and  represent  to  him  the  actual  condition 
of  the  country.  "  Tell  him,"  said  Clay,  "  that  in  a 
single  city  more  than  sixty  bankruptcies,  involving  a 
loss  of  upward  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  have 
184 


Washington^  Centennial  Birthday. 


185 


occurred.  Tell  him  of  the  alarming  decline  in  the 
value  of  all  property.  Tell  him  of  the  tears  of  help- 
less widows,  no  longer  able  to  earn  their  bread,  and  of 
unclad  and  unfed  orphans  who  have  been  driven  by  his 
policy  out  of  the  busy  pursuits  in  which  but  yesterday 
they  were  gaining  an  honest  livelihood." 

The  centennial  birthday  of  George  Washington  was 
duly  honored  in  the   city  which  he  had  founded  and 


MOUNT  VERNON. 


which  bore  his  name.  Divine  services  were  performed 
at  the  Capitol,  and  there  was  a  dinner  at  Brown's 
Hotel,  at  which  Daniel  Webster  prefaced  the  first  toast 
in  honor  of  the  Father  of  his  Country  by  an  eloquent 
speech  of  an  hour  in  length.  In  the  evening  there 
were  two  public  balls — "  one  for  t*he  gentry  at  Carusi's 
saloon,  and  the  other  for  mechanics  and  tradesmen  at 
the  Masonic  Temple." 

Congress  had  proposed  to  pay  signal  homage  to  the 


1 86  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

memory  of  Washington  on  the  centennial  anniversary 
of  his  birth  by  removing  his  remains  to  the  crypt 
beneath  the  dome  of  the  Capitol.  Mr.  Custis,  the 
grandson  of  Mrs.  Washington,  had  given  his  assent ; 
bnt  John  A.  Washington,  then  the  owner  of  Mount 
Vernon,  declined  to  permit  the  removal  of  the  remains. 

Congress  purchased  Rembrandt  Peale's  portrait  of 
Washington,  and  the  House  ordered  a  full  length 
picture  of  him  from  Vanderlyn,  a  celebrated  New  York 
artist.  A  commission  was  also  given  to  Horatio 
Greenough  for  a  colossal  statue  of  Washington  in  a 
sitting  posture,  to  be  placed  on  a  high  pedestal  in  the 
centre  of  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol.  The  Washing- 
ton National  Monument  Association,  after  consultation 
with  men  of  acknowledged  artistic  taste,  selected  from 
among  the  numerous  designs  submitted  a  simple 
obelisk,  five  hundred  feet  in  height,  for  the  erection  of 
which  the  American  people  began  at  once  to  contribute. 

When  "  the  solid  men  of  Boston  "  ascertained  that 
General  Jackson  had  actually  signed  the  order  for  the 
removal  of  the  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  while  enjoying  their  hospitalities  they  were 
very  angry.  Not  long  afterward  they  learned  that 
the  United  States  frigate  Constitution,  a  Boston-built 
vessel,  which  was  being  repaired  at  the  Charlestown 
Navy  Yard,  was  to  be  ornamented  with  a  full-length 
figure  of  General  Jackson  as  a  figure-head.  This  was 
regarded  as  an  insult,  and  the  carver  who  was  at  work 
on  the  figure  was  requested  to  stop  working  on  it. 
This  he  declined  to  do,  and  had  his  half-carved  block 
of  wood  taken  to  the  Navy  Yard,  where  he  completed 
his  task  under  the  protection  of  a  guard  of  marines. 
When  the  figure-head  was  completed  it  was  securely 
bolted  to  the  cutwater  of  the  Constitution,  which  was 


The  Graven  Image. 


i87 


then  hauled  out  to  her  anchorage,  and  a  vessel  was 
stationed  on  either  side  of  her. 

The  Bostonians  grew  more  and  more  indignant,  and 
finally  a  daring  young  mariner  from  Cape  Cod,  Captain 
Samuel  Dewey,  determined  that  he  would  decapitate 
the  obnoxious  image.  The  night  which  he  selected 
was  eminently  propitious,  as  a  severe  rain  storm  raged, 
accompanied  by 
heavy  thunder 
and  sharp  light- 
ning. Dewey 
sculled  his  boat 
with  a  muffled 
oar  to  the  bow 
of  the  frigate, 
where  he  made  it 
fast,  and  climbed 
up,  protected  by 
the  head  boards, 
only  placed  on 
the  vessel  the 
previous  day. 
Then,  with  a 
finely  tempered 
saw,  he  cut  off 
the  head,  and 
returned  with  it 
to  Boston,  where  a  party  of  his  friends  were  anxiously 
waiting  for  him  at  Gallagher's  Hotel.  He  was  at  once, 
made  a  lion  of  by  the  Whigs,  and  Commodore  Elliott 
was  almost  frantic  with  rage  over  the  insult  thus 
offered  to  his  chief. 

Dewey  soon  afterward  went  to  Washington,  where 
he  exhibited  the  grim  features  of  the  head  to  several 


COMMODORE  J.  D.  ELLIOTT. 


i88 


Per 'ley1 ]s  Reminiscences. 


leading  Whigs,  and  finally  carried  it,  tied  up  in  a 
bandana  handkerchief,  to  the  Navy  Department.  Send- 
ing in  his  card  to  Mr.  Mahlon  Dickerson,  then  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  he  obtained  an  andience.  He 
was  a  short,  chunky  sailor-man,  with  resolute  blue- 
gray  eyes,  which  twinkled  as  he  said,  "  Have  I  the 
honor  of  addressing  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  ?" 
"  You  have,"  replied  Mr.  Dickerson,  "  and,  as  I  am 

very  busy,!  will  thank 
you  to  be  brief." 

"  Mr.  Dickerson," 
said  the  Captain,  "  I 
am  the  man  who  re- 
moved the  figure-head 
from  the  Constitution, 
and  I  have  brought  it 
here  to  restore  it." 

Secretary  Dickerson 
threw  himself  back  in 
his  chair  and  looked 
with  astonishment  at 
the  man  who  had  cast 
.  such  an  indignity  on 
the  Administration. 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  he, 
the    man  who   had  the 


THE  HEAD  RESTORED. 


in  an  angry  tone,      you   are 
audacity  to  disfigure  Old  Ironsides?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  took  the  responsibility." 

"  Well,  sir,  I  will  have  you  arrested  immediately," 
and  the  Secretary  reached  toward  his'bell  to  summon 
his  messenger. 

"  Stop,  Mr.  Secretary,"  said  Captain  Dewey  ;  "  you, 
as  a  lawyer,  know  that  there  is  no  statute  against  de; 
facing  a  ship-of-war,  and  all  you  can  do  is  to  sue  nie 


The  Conqueror's  Saw. 


189 


for  trespass,  and  that  in  the  county  where  the  offense 
was  committed.  If  you  desire  it,  I  will  go  back  to 
Middlesex  County,  Massachusetts,  and  stand  my 
trial." 

Mr.  Dickerson  reflected  a  moment  and  said :  "  You 
are  right ;  and  now  tell  nie  how  you  took  away  the 
head." 

Dewey  told  his  story,  and  the  story  goes  that  Secre- 
tary Dickerson  asked  him  to  wait  while  he  stepped 
over  to  the  White  House,  followed  by  a  messenger  car- 
rying the  head.  When  General  Jackson  saw  it,  and 


"l    CAME,    I    SAW,    I    CONQUERED." 


CAPTAIN  DEWEY'S  CARD. 


heard  the  Secretary's  story,  he  burst  into  a  fit  of  un- 
controllable laughter.  "  Why,  that,"  he  cried  at  length 
— "  why,  that  is  the  most  infernal  graven  image  I  ever 
saw.  The  fellow  did  perfectly  right.  You've  got  him, 
you  say ;  well,  give  him  a  kick  and  my  compliments, 
and  tell  him  to  saw  it  off  again."  Dewey  was  after 
this  frequently  at  Washington^  and  he  finally  obtained 
the  appointment  of  Postmaster  in  a  small  Virginia 
town.  He  used  to  have  on  his  visiting  cards  the  rep- 
resentation of  a  handsaw,  under  which  was  inscribed, 
"  I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered." 


190  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

General  Jackson  always  liked  the  physical  excite- 
ment of  a  horse-race,  where  a  large  assemblage  thrills 
with  but  one  thought  from  the  word  "  Go!"  until  the 
winning  horse  reaches  the  goal,  and  he  was  always  to 
be  seen  at  the  races  over  the  National  Course,  just 
north  of  Washington  City.  Delegations  of  sporting 
men  from  the  Atlantic  cities  crowded  into  the  metropo- 
lis during  the  race  weeks ;  there  were  jockey-club  din- 
ners and  jockey-club  balls ;  and  the  course  resounded 
to  the  footfalls  of  noted  horses,  especially  Boston,  Sir 
Charles,  Bmily,  and  Blue  Dick.  In  1836  General 
Jackson  had  a  filly  of  his  own  raising  brought  from 
the  Hermitage  and  entered  for  a  race  by  Major  Donel- 
son,  his  private  secretary.  Nor  did  he  conceal  his 
chagrin  when  the  filly  was  beaten  by  an  imported  Irish 
colt  named  Langford,  owned  by  Captain  Stockton,  of 
the  navy,  and  he  had  to  pay  lost  wagers  amounting  to 
nearly  a  thousand  dollars,  while  Mr.  Van  Buren  and 
other  devoted  adherents  who  had  bet  on  the  filly  were 
also  losers. 

Baillie  Peyton,  of  Tennessee,  used  to  narrate  an 
amusing  account  of  a  visit  which  he  made  to  the  Na- 
tional Race  Course  with  General  Jackson  and  a  few 
others  to  witness  the  training  of  some  horses  for  an 
approaching  race.  They  went  on  horseback,  General 
Jackson  riding  his  favorite  gray  horse,  and  wearing 
his  high  white  fur  hat  with  a  broad  band  of  black 
crape,  which  towered  above  the  whole  group.  The 
General  greatly  enjoyed  the  trials  of  speed,  until  a 
horse  named  Busiris  began  to  rear  and  plunge.  This 
stirred  Old  Hickory's  mettle,  and  he  rode  forward  to 
give  some  energetic  advice  to  the  jockey,  but  just  then 
he  saw  that  the  Vice-President  was  ambling  along  at  his 
side  on  an  easy-going  nag.  "  Mr.  Van  Buren,"  he  ex- 


Jackson '5  A musemen ts. 


191 


claimed,  "  get  behind  me,  sir !  They  will  run  over  you, 
sir !"  and  the  Little  Magician,  with  his  characteristic 
diplomacy,  which  never  gave  offense,  gracefully  retired 
to  the  rear  of  his  chief,  which,  Mr.  Peyton  used  to 
say,  was  his  place. 

President  Jackson  used  to  visit  his  stable  every  morn- 
ing, until  he  became  feeble,  and  he  paid  especial  atten- 
tion to  the  manner  in  which  his  horses  were  shod.  He 
never,  after  he  became  President,  played  cards  or  bil- 
liards, nor  did  he  read  anything  except  the  Daily  Globe 
and  his  private  correspondence.  When  he  received  a 
letter  that  he  desired  one 
of  his  Cabinet  to  read,  he 
would  indorse  on  the 
back  "  Sec.  of  — ,  A.  J." 
He  used  to  smoke  a  great 
deal,  using  either  a  new 
clay  pipe  with  a  long 
stem,  or  a  pipe  made  from 
a  piece  of  a  corn-cob,  with 
a  reed  stem. 

Cock-fighting  had  been 
one  of  General  Jackson's 
favorite  home  amuse- 
ments, and  he  had  become  the  possessor  of  a  breed 
of  fowl  that  was  invincible  in  Tennessee.  He  had 
some  of  these  pugnacious  birds  brought  to  Wash- 
ington, and  one  spring  morning  he  rode  out  toward 
Bladensburg,  with  a  select  party  of  friends,  to  see 
"a  main"  fought  between  the  Hermitage  and  the 
Annapolis  cocks.  The  birds  were  not  only  trained 
to  fight,  but  were  equipped  for  their  bloody  work. 
Their  heads  and  necks  were  plucked,  their  tail  feath- 
ers were  closely  trimmed,  and  their  natural  spurs 


THE  HERMITAGE  BIRDS. 


192  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

were  cut  off  and  replaced  by  "  gaffs,"  or  sharp  blades 
of  finely  tempered  steel.  Kach  bird  had  his  trainer, 
ready  to  administer  stimulants  and  to  sponge  the  blood 
from  the  wounds  inflicted  by  the  gaffs.  General  Jack- 
son was  very  confident  that  his  favorites  would  again 
be  victorious,  but  there  was  no  fight,  to  the  great  dis- 
appointment of  all  present,  who  doubtless  possessed 
what  has  been  called  "  the  devil's  nerve,"  which  thrills 


ARLINGTON. 


with  base  enjoyment  in  the  visible  pain  of  man,  beast, 
or  bird.  The  long  confinement  in  coops  on  the  stages, 
or  some  other  unknown  cause,  appeared  to  have  de- 
prived the  Hermitage  birds  of  their  wonted  pluck,  and 
the  Annapolis  cocks  crowed  in  triumph. 

There  was  a  grand  wedding  at  Arlington  in  Jack- 
son's time,  when  Lieutenant  Robert  Edward  Lee,  fresh 
from  West  Point,  came  up  from  Fortress  Monroe  to 
marry  the  heiress  of  the  estate,  Mary  Custis.  Old 


Lieutenant  R.  E.  Lee. 


193 


Mr.  Custis  was  delighted  with  his  soldier  son-in-law, 
whose  father  had  said  of  Washington  that  he  was 
"  First  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of 
his  countrymen."  The  Marshalls,  the  Carters,  the 
Fitzhughs,  the  Tayloes,  and  other  "  first  families  of 
Virginia  "  were  represented  at  the  wedding,  and  the 
happy  young  cou- 
ple went,  after  the 
ceremony,  to  old 
Fortress  Monroe, 
where  they  resided 
for  a  while  in  a  case- 
mate fitted  up  as 
officers'  quarters. 
The  next  year  Lieu- 
tenant Lee  brought 
his  bride  back  to 
Arlington,  which 
was  their  happy 
home  until  he  was 
persuaded  to  enlist 
under  the' '  stars  and 
bars  "  of  the  South- 
ern Confederacy. 

One  of  General  Jackson's  favorites  was  Jemmy 
Maher,  an  Irishman,  whom  he  had  appointed  public 
gardener,  a  position  of  some  responsibility  in  those 
days,  when  its  holder  had  to  look  after  the  gardens  at 
the  White  House,  the  Capitol,  and  the  Departments. 
Jemmy's  father  had  been  forced  to  flee  to  this  country 
to  avoid  punishment  for  participation  in  the  Irish  re- 
bellion of  '98,  and  the  son  regarded  all  Englishmen  as 
his  foes.  General  Jackson,  who  had  u  whipped  the 
British  "  at  New  Orleans,  was  the  object  of  his  especial 
13 


LIEUTENANT  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 


194 


Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 


adoration,  especially  as  he  used  to  forgive  him  when 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Buildings  occasionally 
complained  that  he  drank  whisky  rather  too  freely. 
"  Shure,  Mr.  President,"  he  would  say,  "  I  niver  drink 
unless  I  am  dry,  and  it  would  be  mane  in  me  not  to 
invite  me  frinds  to  jine  and  take  a  drap  with  me." 

General  Jackson 
was  not  fond  of  the 
theatre,  but  he  went 
to  see  the  widely  her- 
alded performance  of 
Miss  Fanny  Kemble. 
The  niece  of  Mrs.  Sid- 
dons  and  John  Kem- 
ble, and  the  daughter 
of  Charles  Kemble, 
she  had  been  trained 
from  early  childhood 
Ik  to  sustain  the  reputa- 
ff  tion  of  her  distinguish- 
ed theatrical  family. 
A  good-looking  young 
woman,  with  large, 
dark  eyes,  a  profusion 
of  dark  hair,  a  low 
forehead, and  healthy  strawberry-and-cream  complexion, 
she  was  personally  attractive,  and  wonderfully  effective. 
Every  movement,  gesture,  and  inflection  of  voice  had 
been  carefully  studied,  and  when  making  an  ordinary 
remark  in  conversation  she  would  deliver  her  words 
with  a  deliberate  attempt  at  stage  effect.  Her  Juliet, 
with  her  father's  Romeo,  was  her  best  character,  but 
they  failed  signally  as  Lady  Teazle  and  Charles  Sur- 
face in  the  School  for  Scandal. 


MISS  FANNY   KEMBLE. 


In  the  Cheese  Business.  195 

Miss  Kemble  did  not  remain  long  on  the  American 
stage,  as  she  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Pierce  Butler,  a 
wealthy  slave-owner,  in  1834.  The  next  year  her 
Journal  appeared,  in  which  she  criticised  what  she  had 
seen  and  heard  with  a  free  hand,  but  "  'twas  pretty 
Fanny's  way,"  and  no  one  got  angry  over  her  silly 
twaddle.  One  of  the  fair  author's  predictions  concern- 
ing the  fate  of  our  polity  yet  awaits  fulfillment.  "  It 
is  my  conviction,"  said  she,  "  that  America  will  be  a 
monarchy  before  I  am  a  skeleton."  Fifty  years  have 
passed  since  these  words  were  written,  and  the  proph- 
etess has  developed  into  a  portly  matron,  anything  but 
a  skeleton,  and  very  unlike  the  slender  Miss  of  Jack- 
son's time. 

When  Jefferson  was  President,  the  agricultural  town 
of  Cheshire,  in  Western  Massachusetts,  which  had 
been  drilled  by  its  Democratic  pastor,  named  Iceland, 
into  the  unanimous  support  of  the  Sage  of  Monticello, 
determined  to  present  him  with  the  biggest  cheese  that 
had  ever  been  seen.  So  on  a  given  day  every  cow-owner 
brought  his  quota  of  freshly  made  curd  to  a  large  cider- 
press,  which  had  been  converted  into  a  cheese-press, 
and  in  which  a  cheese  was  pressed  that  weighed  one 
thousand  six  hundred  pounds.  It  was  brought  to 
Washington  in  the  following  winter  on  a  sled,  under 
the  charge  of  Parson  Leland,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
people  of  Cheshire,  was  formally  presented  to  President 
Jefferson  in  the  then  unfinished  Bast  Room.  Jeffer- 
son, of  course,  returned  thanks,  and  after  having  a 
great  wedge  cut  from  the  cheese,  to  send  back  to  the 
donors,  he  invited  all  present  to  help  themselves.  The 
cheese  was  variegated  in  appearance,  owing  to  so  many 
dairies  having  contributed  the  curd,  but  the  flavor  was 
pronounced  the  best  ever  tasted  in  Washington. 


196 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


Jackson's  admirers  thought  that  every  honor  which 
Jefferson  had  ever  received  should  be  paid  him,  so  some 
of  them,  residing  in  a  rural  district  of  New  York,  got 
up,  under  the  superintendence  of  a  Mr.  Meacham,  a 
mammoth  cheese  for  "  Old  Hickory."  After  having 
been  exhibited  at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Balti- 
more, it  was  kept  for  some  time  in  the  vestibule  at  the 


THE  GREAT  CHEESE   LEVEE. 


White  House,  and  was  finally  cut  at  an  afternoon  re- 
ception on  the  22d  of  February,  1837.  For  hours  did 
a  crowd  of  men,  women,  and  boys  hack  at  the  cheese, 
many  taking  large  hunks  of  it  away  with  them.  When 
they  commenced,  the  cheese  weighed  one  thousand  four 
hundred  pounds,  and  only  a  small  piece  was  saved  for 
the  President's  use.  The  air  was  redolent  with  cheese, 
the  carpet  was  slippery  with  cheese,  and  nothing  else 


Jackson's  Last  Reception.  197 

was  talked  about  at  Washington  that  day.  Even  the 
scandal  about  the  wife  of  the  President's  Secretary  of 
War  was  forgotten  in  the  tumultuous  jubilation  of  that 
great  occasion. 

General  Jackson  received  that  day  for  the  last  time  at 
the  White  House,  and  was  so  feeble  that  he  had  to  re- 
main seated.  Mrs.  Donelson  stood  on  one  side,  and  on 
the  other  was  Van  Buren,  who  was  inaugurated  as 
President  a  fortnight  later. 


WILLIAM  RUFUS  KING  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  April  ist,  1786  ;  was  a  Representative  in 
Congress  from  Alabama  from  November  4th,  1811,  until  he  resigned  to  accompany  William  Pinkney 
to  Russia  as  Secretary  of  Legation,  April  23d,  1816;  was  United  States  Senator  from  Alabama  from 
March  4th,  1819,  until  he  resigned  logo  as  Minister  to  France,  April  pth,  1844  ;  was  again  United 
States  Senator  from  December  yth,  1846,  to  March  4th,  1853;  was  elected  Vice- President  on  the 
Pierce  ticket  in  1853,  as  a  Democrat,  receiving  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  electoral  votes,  against 
forty-two  electoral  votes  for  W:  R.  Graham,  a  Whig  ;  having  gone  to  Europe  for  his  health,  he 
took  the  oath  of  office  near  Havana,  March  4th,  1853  :  returning  to  his  home  at  Catawba,  Alabama, 
where  he  died,  April  i8th,  1853,  the  day  following  his  arrival. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

VAN   BUREN'S    STORMY   ADMINISTRATION. 

INAUGURATION  OF  VAN  BUREN— HIS  FIRST  RECEPTION — DEPARTURE 
OF  JACKSON  FOR  THE  HERMITAGE— VAN  BUREN'S  EMBARRASSMENTS 
— THE  GREAT  FINANCIAL  DEBATE— ANTAGONISM  OF  CLAY  AND  C  AL- 
HOUN— AN  ALL-NIGHT  SESSION— MORNING  EXCUSES— THE  GRAVES 
AND  CILLEY  DUEL— A  CONGRESSIONAL  COMEDIAN. 

WHILE  the  electoral  votes  for  the  eighth  Presi- 
dent  of    the    United    States   were    being 
counted,  in  the  presence  of  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress,  Senator  Clay  remarked  to  Vice-President 
Van  Buren,  with  courteous  significance,  "  It  is  a  cloudy 
day,  sir!" 

.    "  The  sun  will  shine  on  the  4th  of  March,  sir !"  was 
the  Little  Magician's  confident  reply. 

The  prediction  was  fulfilled,  for  on  Van  Buren's  in- 
augural morning,  March  4th,  1837,  the  sun  shone 
brightly,  and  there  was  not  a  cloud  to  be  seen.  Wash- 
ington was  crowded  with  strangers  from  all  parts  of 
the  country,  and  in  anticipation  of  the  time  set  for  the 
ceremony  great  numbers  began  to  direct  their  way  at 
an  early  hour  to  the  Capitol.  Congregating  before 
the  eastern  portico  of  the  Capitol,  the  dense  mass  of 
humanity  reminded  those  who  had  traveled  abroad  of 
the  assembled  multitude  in  front  of  St.  Peter's  on 
Easter  Sunday  waiting  to  receive  the  Papal  blessing. 

President  Jackson   and    President-elect  Van    Buren 
were  escorted  from  the  White  House  to  the  Capitol  by 
198 


Van  Burerfs  Inauguration. 


199 


a  volunteer  brigade  of  cavalry  and  infantry  and  by 
several  Democratic  political  organizations.  General 
Jackson  and  his  successor  rode  in  an  elegant  phaeton, 
constructed  of  oak  from  the  original  timber  of  the 
frigate  Constitution.  It  had  been  made  at  Amherst, 
Massachusetts,  and  was  presented  by  sixty  admirers. 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN. 


It  had  one  seat,  holding  two  persons,  and  a  high  box 
for  the  driver  in  front,  bordered  with  a  deep  hammer- 
cloth.  The  unpainted  wood  was  highly  polished,  and 
its  fine  grain  was  brought  out  by  a  coat  of  varnish, 
while  on  a  panel  on  either  side  was  a  representation  of 
"  Old  Ironsides  "  under  full  sail.  The  phaeton  was 


2OO 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


drawn  by  General  Jackson's  four  iron-gray  carriage- 
horses,  with,  elaborate  brass-mounted  harness. 

Arriving  at  the  Capitol,  General  Jackson  and  Mr. 
Van  Buren  went  to  the  Senate  Chamber,  where  they 
witnessed  Colonel  Johnson  take  his  oath  of  office  as 
Vice-President.  They  then  repaired  to  a  platform 
erected  over  the  steps  of  the  eastern  portico,  followed 
by  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  the  Senators,  and  the  prin- 


1.  Rotunda. 

2.  Library. 

3.  Senate  Chamber. 


4.  Hall  of  Representatives. 

5.  Eastern  Portico. 

6.  Western  Portico. 


DIAGRAM  OF  MAIN    FLOOR  OF  THE  CAPITOL  IN   1837. 

cipal  executive  officials.  A  cheer  greeted  the  old  hero, 
who  had  risen  from  a  sick-bed,  against  the  protest  of 
his  physician,  that  he  might  grace  the  scene,  and  a 
smile  of  satisfaction  lit  up  his  wan,  stern  features  as 
he  stood  leaning  on  his  cane  with  one  hand  and  hold- 
ing with  the  other  his  crape-bound  white  fur  hat,  while 
he  acknowledged  the  compliment  paid  him  by  a  suc- 
cession of  bows.  Mr.  Van  Buren  then  advanced  to  the 


Reception  at  the   White  House.  201 

front  of  the  platform,  and  with  impressive  dignity 
read  in  a  clear,  distinct  voice  his  inaugural  address. 
His  manner  and  emphasis  were  excellent,  yet  the  effect 
upon  the  multitude  was  not  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  so  great  a  collection  of  men  devoted  to  his 
support.  When  he  had  concluded  Chief  Justice  Taney 
administered  the  oath  of  office,  and  no  sooner  had  Van 
Buren  kissed  the  Bible,  as  a  pledge  of  his  assent,  than 
General  Jackson  advanced  and  shook  him  cordially  by 
the  hand.  The  other  dignitaries  on  the  platform  fol- 
lowed with  their  congratulations,  the  populace  cheered, 
and  the  bands  played  "  Hail  to  the  Chief!" 

President  Van  Buren  and  ex- President  Jackson  were 
then  escorted  back  to  the  White  House,  where  for  three 
hours  a  surging  tide  of  humanity  swept  past  the  new 
Chief  Magistrate,  congratulating  him  on  his  inaugura- 
tion. The  assemblage  was  a  promiscuous  one,  and  the 
reception  was  as  disorderly  an  affair  as  could  well  be 
imagined.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  called  in  a  body,  wearing 
their  court  dresses,  and  Don  Calderon  de  la  Barca,  who 
was  their  Dean,  presented  a  congratulatory  address.  In 
his  reply,  Mr.  Van  Buren  made  his  only  known  lapsus 
lingucz  by  addressing  them  as  the  "  Democratic  corps." 
It  was  not  until  after  his  attention  had  been  called  to 
the  mistake  that  he  corrected  himself,  and  stated  that 
he  had  intended  to  say  "  Diplomatic  Corps."  In  the 
evening  two  inauguration  balls  were  given. 

Many  strangers  had  been  unable  to  find  conveyances 
to  take  them  away  and  could  not  obtain  lodging  places. 
It  was  interesting,  toward  nightfall,  to  witness  the 
gathering  anxiety  in  many  a  good  citizen's  counte- 
nance as  he  went  from  boarding-house  to  hotel,  and 
from  hotel  to  private  residence,  seeking  lodgings  in 


202 


Perley's  Reminiscences. 


vain.  Money  could  indeed  procure  the  most  luxurious 
dishes  and  the  rarest  beverages ;  but  while  the  palate 
could  be  gratified  there  was  no  rest  for  weary  limbs. 
"  Beds  !  beds  !  beds  !"  was  the  general  cry.  Hundreds 
slept  in  the  market-house  on  bundles  of  hay,  and  a 
party  of  distinguished  Bostonians  passed  the  night  in 
the  shaving-chairs  of  a  barber's  shop. 


CAMPING  IN  A  BARBER-SHOP. 


General  Jackson  soon  left  for  Tennessee,  relieved 
from  the  cares  of  the  Presidential  station,  and  exhibit- 
ing an  unwonted  gayety  of  spirit.  During  the  previous 
winter  he  had  not  expected  to  live  until  the  conclusion 
of  his  term,  and  he  could  but  feel  buoyant  and  happy 
in  finding  himself  sufficiently  recovered  to  undertake 
the  journey,  with  the  prospect  of  enjoying  some  years 


Van  Buretfs  Manner. 


203 


at  the  Hermitage,  in  the  midst  of  the  agricultural  occu- 
pations of  which  he  was  so  fond. 

President  Van  Buren  was  the  first  President  who  had 
not  been  born  a  British  subject,  yet  he  was  at  heart  a 
monarchist,  opposed  to  universal  suffrage,  and  in  favor 
of  a  strong  central  government,  although  he  had 
reached  his  exalted  position  by  loud  professions  of  de- 
mocracy. He  endeavored  to  establish  a  personal  inti- 


THE  HERMITAGE. 


macy  with  every  one  presented  to  him,  and  he  ostensibly 
opened  his  heart  for  inspection.  The  tone  of  his  voice 
was  that  of  thorough  frankness,  accompanied  by  a 
pleasant  smile,  but  a  fixed  expression  at  the  corners  of 
his  mouth  and  the  searching  look  of  his  keen  eyes 
showed  that  he  believed,  with  Talleyrand,  that  language 
was  given  to  conceal  thought.  He  found  himself  sad- 
dled at  the  commencement  of  his  Administration  with 


204  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

national  financial  embarrassments,  bequeathed  as  a 
legacy  by  his  "  illustrious  predecessor,"  as  he  desig- 
nated General  Jackson  in  one  of  his  messages.  The 
destruction  of  the  United  States  Bank  had  forced  the 
transfer  of  the  national  funds,  which  it  had  held  on 
deposit,  to  the  State  banks.  They  had  loaned  these 
funds  on  securities,  often  of  doubtful  value  or  worth- 
less, and  when  the  day  of  reckoning  came  general 
bankruptcy  ensued.  Manufacturers  were  obliged  to 
discharge  their  workmen ;  provisions  were  scarce  and 
dear  in  the  Atlantic  States,  because  funds  could  not  be 
obtained  for  the  removal  eastward  of  the  Western 
crops ;  and  there  was  much  actual  distress  in  the  large 
cities  on  the  sea  coast. 

To  quiet  the  popular  clamor,  President  Van  Buren 
convened  Congress  in  an  extra  session,  and  in  his  mes- 
sage to  that  body  on  its  assembling  he  proposed  the  es- 
tablishment of  an  independent  Treasury,  with  sub- 
Treasuries  in  different  cities,  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the 
public  money,  entirely  separate  from  the  banks.  The 
Whigs  opposed  this  independent  Treasury  scheme,  but, 
to  the  surprise  of  those  with  whom  he  had  of  late  been 
politically  affiliated,  it  received  the  cordial  support  of 
Mr.  Calhoun.  When  Congress  began  to  discuss  this 
measure,  he  became  its  champion  in  the  Senate,  and 
soon  "  locked  horns  "  with  Mr.  Clay,  who  led  its  oppo- 
nents. The  debate  was  continued  session  after  session, 
and  in  time  Messrs.  Clay  and  Calhoun  passed  from 
their  discussion  of  national  finances  into  an  acrimoni- 
ous reciprocal  review  of  the  acts,  votes,  and  motions  of 
each  other  during  the  preceding  thirty  years. 

During  the  debate  in  the  House  on  the  bill  authoriz- 
ing the  issue  of  Treasury  notes  there  was  an  all-night 
session.  The  Democrats  had  determined  in  caucus  to 


A  Night  Session.  205 

"  sit  out  the  bill,"  and  whenever  a  Whig  moved  to 
adjourn  his  motion  was  promptly  negatived.  As  dark- 
ness came  on  the  lamps  were  lighted  and  trimmed, 
candles  were  brought  into  the  hall,  and  the  older  and 
feebler  members,  "  pairing  off,"  took  their  cloaks  and 
hats  and  left.  The  House  being  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  whenever  they  found  no  quorum  voting,  were 
obliged  by  the  parliamentary  usage  to  rise  and  report 
that  fact  to  the  House.  When  this  was  done,  and  the 
House  was  again  in  session  as  a  House,  behold,  a  quo- 
rum instantly  appeared ;  and  then,  by  the  same  law, 
they  were  obliged  to  return  into  Committee  again. 
This  happened  so  often  that  at  length  gentlemen  of  the 
Administration  side  became  irritated,  remonstrated, 
demanded  that  members  should  be  counted  in  their 
seats,  whether  they  had  voted  or  no,  and  at  length 
came  to  insist  that  individuals,  by  name,  be  compelled 
to  vote.  Such  a  motion  having  been  made  in  one  case, 
a  voice  cried  out  in  the  confusion  which  filled  the 
chamber:  "How  are  you  going  to  do  it  ?"  and  the 
query  was  succeeded  by  shouts  of  laughter,  mingled 
with  sounds  of  vexation. 

As  midnight  approached  it  was  curious  to  watch  the 
various  effects  produced  by  the  scene  on  different  tem- 
peraments. Some  yawned  fearfully  ;  others  cursed  and 
swore  ;  others  shook  their  sides  with  merriment ;  others 
reasoned  and  remonstrated  with  their  neighbors  ;  some 
very  composedly  stretched  themselves  upon  the  sofas, 
having  first  borrowed  chair-cushions  enough  to  support 
their  somnolent  heads ;  others  bivouacked  on  three 
chairs,  while  some,  not  finding  other  convenient  couch, 
stretched  themselves  flat  on  the  floor  of  the  House, 
with,  perhaps,  a  volume  of  the  Laws  of  the  United 
States  as  their  pillow. 


206  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

At  half-past  one  a  call  of  the  House  was  ordered,  the 
doors  were  closed,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-nine 
members  were  found  to  be  present.  This  House  went 
into  Committee  of  the  Whole  to  come  out  of  it  again, 
and  the  yeas  and  nays  were  called  until  the  clerk  grew 
hoarse.  Thus  rolled  the  hours  away.  Candles  burned 
down  to  their  sockets,  forming  picturesque  grottoes  of 
spermaceti  as  they  declined  ;  lamps  went  out  in  suffo- 
cating fumes.  Some  insisted  on  having  a  window  up ; 
others  on  having  it  down. 

When  the  morning  light  began  to  dawn  through  the 
large  south  windows  of  the  Representatives'  Hall,  it  con- 
trasted strongly  with  the  glare  of  lights,  the  smoke  of 
the  lamps,  and  all  the  crowded  tumult  within.  At  four 
o'clock  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  arrived  with  Corwin,  Gid- 
dings,  and  a  dozen  other  captured  absentees,  who  were, 
one  by  one,  required  to  account  for  their  absence  by 
the  Speaker,  who  would  say :  "  Mr.  A  B,  you  have 
absented  yourself  from  the  House  during  its  sittings, 
contrary  to  law,  and  without  leave  of  the  House.;  what 
excuse  have  you  to  offer  ?"  And  then  the  unfortunate 
men  made  out  the  best  story  they  could.  Some  had 
been  sick ;  others  had  had  a  sick  wife ;  others  had  got 
a  bad  headache  from  the  late  session  ;  some  had  wit- 
nessed such  night  scenes  on  former  occasions,  and  did 
not  wish  to  see  the  like  again  ;  one  had  told  the  Ser- 
geant he  would  come  if  he  would  send  a  hack  for  him, 
and  no  hack  had  been  sent ;  while  one  very  cavalierly 
informed  the  House  that  the  reason  why  he  had  been 
absent  was  that  he  had  not  been  there.  Many  were 
excused  altogether  ;  others  discharged  from  custody  on 
paying  their  fines  (about  two  dollars  each  to  the  Ser- 
geant for  his  fee  of  arrest).  One  batch  having  thus 
been  disposed  of,  the  officer  was  dispatched  to  make 


Another  Duel.  207 

another  haul,  and  in  the  meantime  the  old  game  was 
continued ;  and,  as  neither  party  would  yield,  the  un- 
profitable contest  was  prolonged,  not  till  broad  daylight 
merely,  but  down  to  eleven  o'clock,  when,  all  proposi- 
tions of  compromise  having  been  rejected,  the  debate 
was  regularly  renewed.  Finally,  at  a  quarter  before 
five  o'clock,  the  House  adjourned,  quite  fagged  out. 

Among  other  evidences  of  the  bitter  and  ferocious 
spirit  which  characterized  political  contests  in  those 
days  was  the  duel  between  Representative  Cilley,  of 
Maine,  and  Representative  Graves,  of  Kentucky,  in 
which  the  former  fell.  Mr.  Cilley,  in  a  speech  deliv- 
ered in  the  House  of  Representatives,  criticised  a 
charge  of  corruption  brought  against  some  unnamed 
Congressman  in  a  letter  published  in  the  New  York 
Courier  and  Enquirer,  over  the  signature  of  "  A  Spy 
in  Washington,"  and  indorsed  in  the  editorial  columns 
of  that  paper.  Mr.  James  Watson  Webb,  the  editor  of 
the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  immediately  visited  Washing- 
ton and  sent  a  challenge  to  Mr.  Cilley  by  Mr.  Graves, 
with  whom  he  had  but  a  slight  acquaintance.  Mr. 
Cilley  declined  to  receive  the  hostile  communication 
from  Mr.  Graves,  without  making  any  reflection  on  the 
personal  character  of  Mr.  Webb.  Mr.  Graves  then 
felt  himself  Txmnd  by  the  unwritten  code  of  honor  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  Mr.  Webb,  and  challenged  Mr. 
Cilley  himself.  This  challenge  was  accepted,  and  the 
preliminaries  were  arranged  between  Mr.  Henry  A. 
Wise,  as  the  second  of  Mr.  Graves,  and  Mr.  George 
W.  Jones,  as  the  second  of  Mr.  Cilley.  Rifles  were 
selected  as  the  weapons,  and  Mr.  Graves  found  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  one,  but  was  finally  supplied  by  his 
friend,  Mr.  Rives,  of  the  Globe.  The  parties  met,  the 
ground  was  measured,  and  the  combatants  were  placed ; 


2o8  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

on  the  fourth  fire  Mr.  Cilley  fell,  shot  through  the 
body,  and  died  almost  instantly.  Mr.  Graves,  on  see- 
ing his  antagonist  fall,  expressed  a  desire  to  render 
him  some  assistance,  but  was  told  by  Mr.  Jones,  "  My 
friend  is  dead,  sir !"  Mr.  Cilley,  who  left  a  wife  and 
three  young  children,  was  a  popular  favorite,  and  his 
tragic  end  caused  a  great  excitement  all  over  the 
country.  Mr.  Wise  was  generally  blamed  for  having 
instigated  the  fatal  encounter;  certainly,  he  did  not 
endeavor  to  prevent  it.  His  relation  to  the  affair  won 
him  a  life-long  notoriety,  and  gave  him  position  as  an 
authority  on  such  affairs,  as  is  illustrated  in  an  auto- 
graph letter,  now  in  my  possession,  written  several 
years  later  by  Preston  S.  Brooks  to  Mr.  Wise,  in  which 
he  says :  "I  write  to  ask  where  your  argument  in 
support  of  the  Southern  mode  of  settling  quarrels  may 
be  found  ?  Mr.  Clingman,  of  North  Carolina,  thinks 
that  it  was  made  with  reference  to  the  Graves  and 
Cilley  meeting.  .Mr.  C.  wishes  to  avail  himself  of 
some  of  your  views." 

The  Capital  had  its  comedies  as  well  as  its  tragedies, 
and  the  leading  comedian  was  Thomas  Corwin,  a  Rep- 
resentative from  Ohio,  who  was  a  type  of  early  Western 
culture  and  a  born  humorist.  He  was  a  middle-sized, 
somewhat  stout  man,  with  cheery,  pleasing  manners,  a 
fine  head,  sparkling  hazel  eyes,  and  a  complexion  so 
dark  that  on  several  occasions — as  he  used  to  narrate 
with  great  glee — he  was  supposed  to  be  of  African 
descent.  "  There  is  no  need  of  my  working,"  said  he, 
"  for  whenever  I  cannot  support  myself  in  Ohio,  all  I 
should  have  to  do  would  be  to  cross  the  river,  give  my- 
self up  to  a  Kentucky  negro-trader,  be  taken  South, 
and  sold  for  a  field  hand."  He  always  had  a  story 
ready  to  illustrate  a  subject  of  conversation,  and  the 


A  Keen  Retort.  209 

dry  manner  in  which  he  enlivened  his  speeches  by 
pungent  witticism,  without  a  smile  on  his  own  stolid 
countenance,  was  irresistible. 

He  was  once  addressing  a  Whig  mass  meeting  at 
Marietta,  Ohio,  and  was  taking  especial  pains  not  to 
say  anything  that  could  offend  the  Abolitionists,  who 
were  beginning  to  throw  a  large  vote.  A  sharp  witted 
opponent,  to  draw  him  out  asked :  "  Shouldn't  niggers 
be  permitted  to  sit  at  the  table  with  white  folks,  on 
steamboats  and  at  hotels  ?"  "  Fellow-citizens,"  ex- 
claimed Corwin,  his  swarthy  features  beaming  with 
suppressed  fun,  "  I  ask  you  whether  it  is  proper  to  ask 
such  a  question  of  a  gentleman  of  my  color  ?"  The 
crowd  cheered  and  the  questioner  was  silenced. 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN  was  born  at  Kinderhook,  New  York,  December  sth,  1782 ;  was  a  United 
States  Senator  from  New  York  from  December  3d,  1821,  to  December  2oth,  1828,  when  he  resigned 
to  accept  the  office  of  Governor  of  New  York  ;  this  position  he  resigned  on  the  I2th  of  March,  1829, 
having  been  appointed  by  President  Jackson  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  ;  this  position 
he  resigned  August  ist,  1831,  having  been  appointed  by  President  Jackson  Minister  to  Great  Britain, 
but  the  Senate  rejected  his  nomination;  was  elected  Vice-President  on  the  Jackson  ticket  in  1832; 
was  elected  President  in  1836;  was  defeated  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for  President  in  1840;  was 
the  candidate  of  the  Anti- Slavery  party  for  President  in  1848,  and  died  at  Kinderhook,  New  York, 
July  24th,  1862. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY  MOVEMENT. 

\GITATION  OF  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION — EARLY  SECESSION  MOVEMENTS 
— DANIEL  WEBSTER  ON  EMANCIPATION — HIS  IDEA  OF  THE  FAR  WEST 
—  FRANKLIN  PIERCE'S  POSITION — SERGEANT  S.  PRENTISS,  THE  FORE- 
MOST OF  ORATORS — JOSEPH  HOLT— W.  R.  KING — THE  BUCKSHOT  WAR 
— STAR  ROUTES — PRESIDENT  VAN  BUREN'S  TITLES. 

IT  was  during  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren  that  the  English  Abolitionists  first  began 
to  propagate  their  doctrines  in  the  Northern 
States,  where  the  nucleus  of  an  anti-slavery  party  was 
soon  formed.  This  alarmed  the  Southerners,  who, 
under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  threatened  disunion  if 
their  "  peculiar  institution  "  was  not  let  alone.  The 
gifted  South  Carolinian  having  in  January,  1838,  paid 
a  high  compliment  in  debate  to  John  Randolph  for  his 
uncompromising  hostility  to  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
Mr.  Clay  said  :  "  I  well  remember  the  Compromise  Act 
and  the  part  taken  in  that  discussion  by  the  distin- 
guished member  from  Virginia,  whose  name  has  been 
mentioned,  and  whose  death  I  most  sincerely  lament. 
At  that  time  we  were  members  of  the  other  House. 
Upon  one  occasion,  during  a  night  session,  another 
member  from  Virginia,  through  fatigue  and  the  offen- 
sive exhalations  from  one  of  the  surrounding  lamps, 
fainted  in  his  seat  and  was  borne  to  the  rear  of  the 
Representatives'  Hall.  Calling  some  one  to  the 
Speaker's  chair,  I  left  my  place  to  learn  the  character 
210 


Agitation  on  Slavery.  .2.11 

and  extent  of  his  illness.  Returning  to  the  desk,  I 
was  met  in  one  of  the  aisles  by  Mr.  Randolph,  to 
whom  I  had  not  spoken  for  several  weeks.  '  Ah,  Mr. 
Speaker,'  said  he,  '  I  wish  you  would  leave  Congress 
and  go  to  Kentucky.  I  will  follow  you  there  or  any- 
where else.'  I  well  understood  what  he  meant,  for  at 
that  time  a  proposition  had  been  made  to  the  Southern 
members,  and  the  matter  partly  discussed  by  them,  of 
leaving  Congress  in  the  possession  of  the  Northern 
members  and  returning  home,  each  to  his  respective 
constituents.  I  told  Mr.  Randolph  that  I  could  not 
then  speak  to  him  about  the  matter,  and  requested  him 
to  meet  me  in  the  Speaker's  room  early  the  next  morn- 
ing. With  his  usual  punctuality  he  came.  We  talked 
over  the  Compromise  Act,  he  defending  his  favorite 
position  and  I  defending  mine.  We  were  together  an 
hour,  but  to  no  purpose.  Through  the  whole  he  was 
unyielding  and  uncompromising  to  the  last.  We 
parted,  shook  hands,  and  promised  to  be  good  friends, 
and  I  never  met  him  again  during  the  session.  Such," 
continued  Mr.  Clay,  "  was  the  part  Mr.  Randolph  took 
in  that  discussion,  and  such  were  his  uncompromising 
feelings  of  hostility  toward  the  North  and  all  who  did 
not  believe  with  him.  His  acts  came  near  shaking  this 
Union  to  the  centre  and  desolating  this  fair  land.  The 
measures  before  us  now,  and  the  unyielding  and  uncom- 
promising spirit  are  like  then,  and  tend  to  the  same 
sad  and  dangerous  end — dissolution  and  desolation, 
disunion  and.ruin." 

On  the  same  day,  in  1838,  Mr.  Webster  gave  in  his 
opinion  that  Congress  had  power  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  That  power,  he  said,  was 
granted  in  the  most  express,  explicit,  and  undoubted 
terms.  It  declared  that  Congress  should  have  "  exclu- 


212 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


sive  jurisdiction  over  all  subjects  whatsoever  in  th<: 
District  of  Columbia."  Mr.  Webster  said  that  he  had 
searched  and  listened  for  some  argument  or  some  law 
to  controvert  this  position.  He  had  read  and  studied 
carefully  the  act  of  cession  of  the  ten  miles  square 


ORIGINAL  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 


from  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  he  could  find  nothing 
there,  and  nowhere  else,  to  gainsay  the  plain  and 
express  letter  of  the  Constitution.  This  inspired  the 
Abolitionists  with  the  hope  that  Mr.  Webster  would 
become  the  leader  of  the  crusade  against  slavery  that 


Webster  and  the   West.  213 

they  had  decided  to  inaugurate.  At  that  time  he  un- 
questionably leaned  toward  emancipation,  not  only  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  but  everywhere  in  the  United 
States.  This  was  noticed  by  the  Southern  leaders, 
who  began  to  tempt  him  with  promises  of  support  for 
the  Presidency — promises  which  were  subsequently 
broken  again  and  again  that  a  more  subservient  and 
available  tool  might  be  placed  in  power. 

Before  allying  himself  with  the  South,  Mr.  Webster 
endeavored  to  identify  himself  with  the  West  by  invest- 
ing largely  in  a  city  laid  out  on  paper  in  a  township  in 
Rock  Island  County,  Illinois.  It  was  at  the  mouth 
of  Rock  River,  and  it  was  to  have  borne  the  name  of 
Rock  Island  City.  Fletcher  Webster  went  out  there 
and  remained  for  a  time,  I  think,  accompanied  by  his 
friend,  George  Curson.  Caleb  Cushing  was  also  inter- 
ested in  the  embryo  city,  but  somehow  it  was  not  a 
success. 

Mr.  Webster  had,  however,  a  very  vague  idea  of  the 
"  Great  West  "  of  his  day.  On  one  occasion  when  he 
was  in  the  Senate  a  proposition  was  before  it  to  estab- 
lish a  mail-route  from  Independence,  Mo.,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  some  three  thousand 
miles,  across  plains  and  mountains,  about  the  extent  of 
which  the  public  then  knew  no  more  than  they  did  of 
the  interior  of  Thibet.  Mr.  Webster,  after  denouncing 
the  measure  generally,  closed  with  a  few  remarks  con- 
cerning the  country  at  large.  "  What  do  we  want  ?" 
he  exclaimed,  "  with  this  vast,  worthless  area  ?  This 
region  of  savages  and  wild  beasts,  of  deserts  of  shift- 
ing sands  and  whirlwinds  of  dust,  of  cactus  and  prairie 
dogs  ?  To  what  use  could  we  ever  hope  to  put  these 
great  deserts,  or  those  endless  mountain  ranges,  im- 
penetrable and  covered  to  their  very  base  with  eternal 


214 


Parley's  Reminiscences. 


snow  ?  What  can  we  ever  hope  to  do  with  the  western 
coast,  a  coast  of  three  thousand  miles,  rock-bound, 
cheerless,  uninviting,  and  not  a  harbor  on  it?  What 
use  have  we  for  this  country  ?" 

Franklin  Pierce,  who  had  served  two  terms  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  was  then  elected  to  the  Sen- 
ate. He  proved  a  valuable  recruit  for  the  Southern 
ranks,  as  when  in  the  House  he  had  risen  one  day  to  a 

question  of  privilege, 
and  warmly  resented 
the  reading  by  Mr. 
Calhoun  in  the  Senate 
of  an  article  from  the 
Concord  Herald  of 

/V  Freedom,    which     de- 

clared that  the  Aboli- 
tionists in  New  Hamp- 
shire were  as  one  to 
thirty.  This  journal, 
Mr.  Pierce  said,  "  was 
too  insignificant  and 
too  odious,  in  the  eyes 
of  his  constituents,  to 
be  cited  as  authority. 
No  age  or  country  had 
ever  been  free  from  fanatics,  and  with  equal  justice 
might  the  whole  people  of  New  York  be  charged  with 
being  followers  of  Matthias  as  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire  for  favoring  the  designs  of  the  Knapps 
and  Garrisons  and  Thompsons." 

Sergeant  Smith  Prentiss,  who  came  to  Washington 
during  the  Van  Buren  Administration  to  claim  a  seat 
in  Congress  as  a  Representative  from  Mississippi,  was 
the  most  eloquent  speaker  that  I  have  ever  heard.  The 


WILLIAM   LLOYD  GARRISON. 


Prominent  Orators. 


215 


lame  and  lisping  boy  from  Maine  had  ripened,  under 
the  Southern  sun,  into  a  master  orator.  The  original, 
ever-varying,  and  beautiful  imagery  with  which  he 
illustrated  and  enforced  his  arguments  impressed 
Webster,  Clay,  Everett,  and  even  John  Quincy  Adams. 
But  his  forte  lay  in  arraigning  his  political  opponents, 
when  his  oratory  was  "  terrible  as  an  army  with  ban- 
ners ;"  nothing  could  stand  against  the  energy  of  his 
look,  gesture,  and  im- 
passioned logic,  when 
once  he  was  fairly  un- 
der way,  in  denounc- 
ing the  tricks  and  sel- 
fish cunning  of  mere 
party  management. 
The  printed  reports  of 
his  speeches  are  mere 
skeletons,  which  give 
but  a  faint  idea  of 
them.  Even  the  few 
rhetorical  passages 
that  are  retained  have 
lost  much  of  their 
original  form  and 
beauty.  The  profes- 
sional stenographers  confessed  themselves  utterly  baf- 
fled in  the  attempt  to  report  him,  and  he  was  quite  as 
unfitted  to  report  himself.  Indeed,  he  complained  that 
he  never  could  reproduce  the  best  thoughts,  still  less 
the  exact  language,  of  his  speeches. 

The  principal  antagonist  of  Mr.  Prentiss,  in  the 
courts  of  Mississippi,  was  Joseph  Holt,  a  young  Ken- 
tucky lawyer,  who  had  acquired  a  national  reputation 
for  oratory  by  a  speech  which  he  made  in  the  National 


JOSEPH   HOLT. 


2l6 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


Democratic  Convention  of  1836,  when  he  advocated 
the  nomination  of  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson  in  a 
speech  of  great  beauty  and  power.  His  arguments 
were  persuasive,  the  tones  of  his  voice  were  melodious, 
and  he  insinuated  himself  and  his  cause  into  the  hearts 
of  his  audience,  rather  than  carried  them  by  storm. 
Devoted  to  the  South  and  its  peculiar  institution,  he 
was  welcomed  in  the  State  of  Mississippi,  and  soon 

took  a  prominent  po- 
sition at  the  bar  of  her 
higher  courts. 

William  Rufus 
King,  of  Alabama,  who 
was  elected  President 
pro  tempore  of  the  Sen- 
ate while  Colonel 
Johnson  was  Vice- 
President,  was  a  prim, 
spare  bachelor,  known 
among  his  friends  as 
"Miss  Nancy  King." 
When  a  young  man 
he  had  accompanied 
the  Minister  to  Russia, 
William  Pinkney,  to 
St.  Petersburg,  as  Secretary  of  the  Legation  of  the 
United  States.  Residing  there  for  two  years,  he  ac- 
quired the  formal  manners  of  the  Court  of  the  Em- 
peror Alexander,  with  a  diplomatic  craftiness  which  he 
always  retained.  He  was  a  courteous  presiding  officer, 
as  was  thus  oddly  exemplified  while  he  occupied  the 
chair.  The  two  Senators  from  the  State  of  Arkansas 
pronounced  the  name  of  their  State  differently.  Mr. 
King  punctiliously  observed  the  difference,  invariably 


WILLIAM  RUFUS  KING. 


Van  Bur  en's  Troubles. 


217 


recognizing  one  as  "  the  gentleman  from  Ar-kan-sas," 
and  the  other  as  "  the  gentleman  from  Ark-an-sas." 

Mr.  Van  Buren  was  much  exercised  by  a  difficulty 
in  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  which  the  State 
militia  was  called  out  to  quell,  and  which  it  was  thought 
might  result  in  a  demand  for  the  intervention  of  United 
States  troops.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  then  an  ardent 
Whig,  was  a  leader  in  the  attempt  to  force  eleven  ille- 
gally elected  members 
into  the  House  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet, 
the  troops  having 
their  muskets  loaded 
with  buckshot.  When 
the  enterprise  collaps- 
ed, Stevens  jumped 
from  a  back  window 
of  the  Capitol  and  ran 
off  to  Gettysburg, 
where  he  remained 
without  claiming  his 
seat  for  about  a  month, 
when  he  came  in  and 
offered  to  take  the 
oath,  but  the  House 
resolved,  with  great  solemnity,  that  the  seat  was  vacant, 
although  others  who  had  been  out  nearly  as  long  were 
admitted  without  hesitation. 

A  prominent  young  Virginia  lawyer,  named  William 
Smith,,  who  practiced  at  Culpepper  Court-House,  be- 
came interested  in  a  mail-route  between  Washington 
City  and  Milledgeville,  Georgia,  and  he  grew  to  be  an 
extensive  contractor.  Many  of  his  mail-routes  were 
but  lit.tle  more  than  bridle-paths,  over  which  the  mails 


THADDEUS  STEVENS. 


2i8  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

were  carried  on  horseback.  With  an 'eye  to  the  main 
chance,  and  with  a  laudable  desire  to  extend  the  mail 
facilities  of  Virginia,  Mr.  Smith  managed  to  secure  a 
large  number  of  "  expeditions  "  through  Parson  Oba- 
diah  Bruin  Brown,  commonly  called  "  Parson  Obadiah 
Bruin  Beeswax  Brown,"  the  Superintendent  of  the 
contract  office  of  the  Post-office  Department.  In  place 
of  the  horseback  system  stage  lines  would  be  substitu- 
ted, and  this  service  would  be  frequently  "  expedited  r/ 
without  much  of  a  view  to  "  productiveness,"  from  one 
trip  to  three  or  six  trips  per  week.  All  of  these  "  ex- 
peditions "  were  noted  by  stars  (*  *)  at  the  bottom  of 
Smith's  vouchers,  which,  interpreted,  meant  "  extra 
allowance."  So  frequently  did  these  stars  appear  in 
the  Virginia  contractor's  accounts  that  he  soon  came 
to  be  known  in  the  Post-office  Department  as  "  Extra 
Billy  "  Smith,  and  it  adhered  to  him  in  after  life,  when 
he  became  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  afterward  Governor  of  Virginia.  He  still  lives 
at  Warrenton,  a  hale  and  hearty  old  man. 

Mr.  Van  Buren  had  an  abundance  of  political  nick- 
names. He  was  "  the  sweet  little  fellow "  of  Mr. 
Ritchie  of  the  Richmond  Inquirer,  and  "  the  Northern 
man  with  Southern  principles "  of  the  Charleston 
Courier;  Mr.  Clinton  baptized  him  "the  Political 
Grimalkin;"  Mr.  Calhoun,  "  the  Weazel ;"  while  he 
helped  himself  to  the  still  less  nattering  name  of  "  the 
follower  in  the  footsteps  " — that  is,  the  successor  of  his 
predecessor,  a  sort  of  masculine  Madame  Blaize, 

"  Who  strove  the  neighborhood  to  please, 

With  manners  wondrous  winning, 
And  never  followed  wicked  ways, 
Except  when  she  was  sinning," 

who  clad  all  the  hungry  and  naked  office-holders  "  that 


The  Dead  Arise.  219 

left  a  pledge  "behind "  of  supporting  him  ;  and,  like 
that  good  dame,  led  the  way  to  all  those  who  came  be- 
hind her. 

The  Southern  nullifiers,  who  had  been  "  squelched  " 
by  General  Jackson,  began  to  revive  under  the  more 
genial  rule  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  they  established  an 
"  organ "  called  the  Washington  Chronicle.  It  was 
edited  by  Richard  K.  Cralle,  who  came  from  Leesburg, 
Virginia.  He  was  a  well-educated  gentleman,  ultra  in 
his  opinions  on  free  trade  and  Southern  rights ;  but 
those  who  were  enthusiastic  in  their  praises  of  his  edi- 
torials did  not  subscribe  to  the  Chronicle,  or  if  they 
did,  never  condescended  to  pay  their  subscriptions.  So 
the  paper  ruined  its  printers  and  then  gave  up  the 
ghost,  Mr.  Calhoun  securing  a  department  clerkship 
for  Mr.  Cralle. 


TRISTAM  BURGBSS  was  born  at  Rochester,  Massachusetts,  February  26th,  1770;  was  a  Represen- 
tative in  Congress  from  Rhode  Island  from  December  ist,  1825,  until  March  3d,  1835  ;  was  defeated 
as  the  Whig  candidate  for  Congress,  and  afterward  as  the  Whig  candidate  for  Governor,  and  died  at 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  October  i3th,  1853. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SOCIAL   AND   POLITICAL   LIFE   AT   WASHINGTON. 

PRESIDENTIAL    HOSPITALITIES — SOCIAL    ENTERTAINMENTS— A     GIFTED 
.  ADVENTURESS — ESPY,  THE    WEATHER    KING— A    FOREIGN     INDORSE- 
MENT—VAN BUREN'S   RE-ELECTION — THE     OGLE    SPEECH — VAN    BU- 

REN'S  NEW  YEAR'S  RECEPTION. 

PRESIDENT  VAN  BUREN'S  wife  (by  birth 
Miss  Hannah  Hoes,  of  Columbia  County, 
New  York)  had  been  dead  nineteen  years 
when  he  took  possession  of  the  White  House,  accom- 
panied by  his  four  sons,  and  presided  over  the  official 
receptions  and  dinner  parties  with  his  well-known  tact 
and  politeness.  In  the  November  following  his  inaug- 
uration, his  eldest  son.  and  private "  secretary,  Colonel 
Abraham  Van  Buren  (who  was  a  graduate  of  the  Mili- 
tary Academy  at  West  Point,  and  who  had  served  on 
the  staff  of  General  Worth),  was  married  to  Miss 
Angelica  Singleton,  a  wealthy  South  Carolina  lady, 
who  had  been  educated  at  Philadelphia,  and  who  had 
passed  the  preceding  winter  at  Washington  in  the 
family  of  her  relative,  Senator  Preston.  On  the  New 
Year's  day  succeeding  the  wedding  Mrs.  Van  Buren, 
assisted  by  the  wives  of  the  Cabinet  officers,  received 
with  her  father-in-law,  the  President.  Her  rare  accom- 
plishments, superior  education,  beauty  of  face  and 
figure,  grace  of  manner,  and  vivacity  in  conversation 
insured  social  success.  The  White  House  was  refur- 
nished in  the  most  expensive  manner,  and  a  -code  of 
220 


Healing  the  Breaches.  22 1 

etiquette  was  established  which  rivaled  that  of  a  Ger- 
man principality. 

The  President  endeavored  to  restore  the  good  feeling 
between  the  Administration  and  Washington  u  society," 
which  had  been  ruptured  during  the  political  rule  of 
General  Jackson.  He  gave  numerous  entertainments 
at  the  White  House,  and  used  to  attend  those  given  by 
his  Cabinet,  which  was  regarded  as  an  innovation,  as 
his  predecessors  had  never  accepted  social  invitations. 
Kx-President  Adams,  the  widow  of  President  Madison, 
and  the  widow  of  Alexander  Hamilton  each  formed  the 
centre  of  a  pleasant  coterie,  and  the  President  was  open 
in  the  expression  of  his  desire  that  the  members  of  his 
Cabinet  and  their  principal  subordinates  should  each 
give  a  series  of  dinner-parties  and  evening  receptions 
during  the  successive  sessions  of  Congress. 

The  dinner-parties  were  very  much  alike,  and  those 
who  were  in  succession  guests  at  different  houses  often 
saw  the  same  table  ornaments,  and  were  served  by  the 
same  waiters,  while  the  fare  was  prepared  by  the  same 
cook.  The  guests  used  to  assemble  in  the  parlor,  which 
was  almost  invariably  connected  with  the  dining-room 
by  large  folding  doors.  When  the  dinner  was  ready 
the  doors  were  thrown  open,  and  the  table  was  revealed, 
laden  with  china  and  cut-glass  ware.  A  watery  com- 
pound called  vegetable  soup  was  invariably  served,  fol- 
lowed by  boiled  fish,  overdone  roast  beef  or  mutton, 
roast  fowl  or  game  in  season,  and  a  great  variety  of 
puddings,  pies,  cakes,  and  ice-creams.  The  fish,  meat, 
and  fowl  were  carved  and  helped  by  the  host,  while  the 
lady  of  the  house  distributed  the  vegetables,  the 
pickles,  and  the  dessert.  Champagne,  without  ice,  was 
sparingly  supplied  in  long,  slender  glasses,  but  there  was 
no  lack  of  sound  claret,  and  with  the  dessert  several 


222 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


bottles  of  old  Madeira  were  generally  produced  by  the 
host,  who  succinctly  gave  the  age  and  history  of  each. 
The  best  Madeira  was  that  labeled  "  The  Supreme 
Court,"  as  their  Honors,  the  Justices,  used  to  make  a 
direct  importation  every  year,  and  sip  it  as  they  con- 
sulted over  the  cases  before  them  every  day  after  din- 
ner, when  the  cloth  had  been  removed.  Some  rare  old 

specimens  of  this  wine 
can  still  be  found  in 
Washington  wine-cel- 
lars. 

At  the  evening  par- 
ties the  carpet  was 
lifted  from  the  room ' 
set  apart  for  dancing, 
and  to  protect  the  dan- 
cers from  slipping  the 
floor  was  chalked, 
usually  in  colors.  The 
music  was  almost  in- 
variably a  first  and  sec- 
ond violin,  with  flute 
and  harp  accompani- 
ments. Light  refresh- 
ments, such  as  water-ices,  lemonade,  negus,  and  small 
cakes  were  handed  about  on  waiters  between  every 
two  or  three  dances.  The  crowning  glory  of  the 
entertainment,  however,  was  the  supper,  prepared  un- 
der the  supervision  of  the  hostess,  aided  by  some  of 
her  intimate  friends,  who  also  loaned  their  china  and 
silverware.  The  table  was  covered  with  a  la  mode 
beef,  cold  roast  turkey,  duck,  and  chicken,  fried  and 
stewed  oysters,  blanc-mange,  jellies,  whips,  floating 
islands,  candied  oranges,  and  numerous  varieties  of 


MRS.  EX-PRESIDENT  MADISON. 


A  New  Sensation. 


223 


tarts  and  cakes.  Very  often  the  older  men  would 
linger  after  the  ladies  had  departed,  and  even  reassem- 
ble with  the  host,  and  discuss  the  wines  ad  libitum,  if 
not  ad  nauseam,  while  the  young  men,  after  having 
escorted  the  ladies  to  their  respective  homes,  would 
meet  again  at  some  oyster-house  to  go  out  on  a  lark, 
in  imitation  of  the  young  English  bloods  in  the  favorite 
play  of  Tom  and  Jerry. 
Singing,  or  rather 
shouting,  popular 
songs,  they  would 
break  windows ,  wrench 
off  knockers,  call  up 
doctors,  and  transpose 
sign-boards ;  nor  was 
there  a  night  watch- 
man to  interfere  with 
their  roistering. 

A  decided  sensation 
was  created  at  Wash- 
ington during  the  Van 
Buren  Administration 
by  the  appearance 
there  of  a  handsome 
and  well-educated  Italian  lady,  who  called  herselt 
America  Vespucci,  and  claimed  descent  from  the  navi- 
gator who  gave  his  name  to  this  continent.  Ex- 
President  Adams  and  Daniel  Webster  became  her 
especial  friends,  and  she  was  soon  a  welcome  guest 
in  the  best  society.  In  a  few  weeks  after  her  arrival, 
she  presented  a  petition  to  Congre'ss  asking,  first,  to 
be  admitted  to  the  rights  of  citizenship;  and,  secondly, 
to  be  given  "a  corner  of  land"  out  of  the  public 
domain  of  the  country  which  bore  the  name  of  her 


AMERICA  VESPUCCI. 


AFTER  THE  LADIES  HAVE  GONE. 


Madame  Vespuctfs  Fall.  225 

ancestor.  An  adverse  report,  which  was  soon  made, 
is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  Congressional  literature. 
It  eulogized  the  petitioner  as  "a  young,  dignified, 
and  graceful  lady,  with  a  mind  of  the  highest  intel- 
lectual culture,  and  a  heart  beating  with  all  our  own 
enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  America  and  human 
liberty."  The  reasons  why  the  prayer  of  the  peti- 
tioner could  not  be  granted  were  given,  but  she  was 
commended  to  the  generosity  of  the  American  people. 
"  The  name  of  America — our  country's  name — should 
be  honored,  respected,  and  cherished  in  the  person  of 
the  interesting  exile  from  whose  ancestor  we  derive  the 
great  and  glorious  title." 

A  subscription  was  immediately  opened  by  Mr.  Haight, 
the  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  Senate,  and  Judges, 
Congressmen,  and  citizens  vied  with  one  another  in 
their  contributions.  Just  then  it  was  whispered  that 
Madame  Vespucci  had  borne  an  unenviable  reputation 
at  Florence  and  at  Paris,  and  had  been  induced  by  a 
pecuniary  consideration  to  break  off  an  intimacy  with 
the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Louis  Philippe's  oldest  son,  and 
come  to  Washington.  Soon  afterward  the  Duke's 
younger  brother,  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  came  to  this 
country,  and  refused  to  recognize  her,  which  virtually 
excluded  her  from  reputable  society.  For  some  years 
subsequently  she  resided  in  luxurious  seclusion  with  a 
wealthy  citizen  of  New  York,  in  the  interior  of  that 
State,  and  after  his  death  she  returned  to  Paris. 

During  the  Van  Buren  Administration  James  P. 
Espy  came  to  Washington  to  initiate  what  has  grown 
into  the  Weather  Signal  .Service.  He  was  a  Pennsyl- 
vanian  by  birth,  and  so  poor  in  early  life  that  when 
seventeen  years  of  age  he  had  not  been  able  to 
learn  to  read.^  He  subsequently  mastered  the  English 
15 


226 


Per le^s  Reminiscences. 


language  and  the  classics,  and  long  before  he  knew 
why  began  to  study  the  mystery  of  the  moving  clouds 
and  to  form  his  storm  theories.  At  last  he  asked 
of  Congress  an  appropriation  of  five  thousand  dollars 
a  year  for  five  years,  but  he  was  met  with  jibes  and 
ridicule.  Senator  Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  said 


SIGNAL  SERVICE  AND  WEATHER   BUREAU. 

Espy  was  a  madman,,  too  dangerous  to  be  at  large,  and 
the  Senator  would  vote  a  special  appropriation  for  a 
prison  in  which  to  confine  him.  Espy  was  in  the 
Senate  gallery  at  the  time.  Wounded  to  the  quick, 
he  left  the  Capital  and  went  to  New  York,  where  he 
delivered  a  course  of  lectures  with  great  success.  They 
were  repeated  in  Boston,  and  he  made  money  enough 
to  enable  him  to  visit  Europe. 


A  Weather  Prophet. 


227 


Not  long  after  reaching  Liverpool,  Jannary  6th,  1839, 
a  great  storm  occurred.     He  went  to  Lloyds',  consulted 
the  newspapers  as  they  arrived,  noted  the  direction  of 
the  wind  as  given  at  different  places,  and  from  these 
data  constructed  the  first  great  storm  map  ever  pre- 
pared, with  the  hour  points  marked.     Bvery  line  and 
curve  and  point  exemplified  his  theory.     He  was  at  no 
loss  now  for  audiences.     He  appeared  before  the  Brit- 
ish Association  of  Sci- 
entists at  London,  at 
which  Sir  John  Her- 
schel  was   present,  an 
interested  auditor.   He 
crossed  the  channel  to 
Paris,  and   the   Acad- 
emy  of  Sciences    ap- 
pointed  a   committee, 
composed  of  the  illus- 
trious Arago,    u  to  re- 
port upon  his  observa- 
tions and  theory."  The 
effect  of    this   report, 
when  it  reached  Wash- 
ington, was  not  much 
different     from     that 
which  followed,  afterward,  the  announcement  of  Morse's 
first  transmitted  message  over  the  wire  from  Washing- 
ton to  Baltimore. 

Aided  by  General  Jackson  and  the  "  machinery"  of 
the  Democratic  party,  engineered  by  Amos  Kendall, 
Mr.  Van  Buren  secured  for  himself  the  re-nomination 
for  the  Presidency.  But  he  had  great  obstacles  to  con- 
tend with.  The  financial  condition  of  the  country, 
deranged  by  the  absence  of  the  controlling  power  of 


AMOS   KENDALL. 


228  Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

the  United  States  Bank,  grew  worse  and  worse.  There 
was  a  total  stagnation  of  business  throughout  the 
Union,  and  from  every  section  came  tidings  of  embar- 
rassment, bankruptcy,  and  ruin.  There  were  no  avail- 
able funds  for  the  purchase  of  Western  produce  and  its 
transportation  to  the  Atlantic  markets,  so  it  remained 
in  the  hands  of  the  farmers,  who  could  not  dispose  of  it 
except  at  a  great  sacrifice.  In  Ohio,  for  example,  pork 
was  sold  at  three  dollars  a  hundred  pounds,  and  wheat 
at  fifty  cents  per  bushel,  while  the  price  of  agricultural 
labor  was  but  thirty-seven  and  a-half  cents  a  day. 

The  campaign  was  carried  on  with  great  bitterness 
in  Congress,  where  the  leading  Whigs  cordially  united 
in  a  decisive  warfare  on  the  Democrats.  General  Har- 
rison was  eulogized  as  a  second  Cincinnatus — plowman, 
citizen,  and  general — and  the  sneering  remark  that  he 
resided  in  a  log-cabin  was  adopted  as  a  partisan  watch- 
word. The  most  notable  speech  was  by  Mr.  Ogle,  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  elaborately  reviewed  the  expensive 
furniture,  china,  and  glassware  which  had  been  im- 
ported for  the  White  House  by  order  of  President  Van 
Buren.  He  dwelt  on  the  gorgeous  splendor  of  the 
damask  window  curtains,  the  dazzling  magnificence  of 
the  large  mirrors,  chandeliers,  and  candelabra ;  the 
centre-tables,  with  their  tops  of  Italian  marble  ;  the 
satin-covered  chairs,  tabourets,  and  divans ;  the  impe- 
rial carpets  and  rugs,  and,  above  all,  the  service  of 
•silver,  including  a  set  of  what  he  called  gold  spoons, 
although  they  were  of  silver-gilt.  These  costly  deco- 
rations of  the  White  House  were  described  in  detail, 
with  many  humorous  comments,  and  then  contrasted 
with  the  log-cabins  of  the  West,  where  the  only  orna- 
mentation, generally  speaking,  was  a  string  of  speckled 
birds'-eggs  festooned  about  a  looking-glass  measuring 


Ogle  versus  Van  Buren.  229 

eight  by  ten  inches,  and  a  fringed  window  curtain  of 
white  cotton  cloth. 

Having  described  the  furniture  and  the  table  service 
of  the  White  House,  as  purchased  by  direction  of  the 
President,  Mr.  Ogle  proceeded  to  sketch  Van  Buren's 
New  Year's  receptions.  "Instead,"  said  he,  "of  weekly 
receptions,  when  all  the  people  were  at  liberty  to  par- 
take of  the  good  cheer  of  the  President's  house,  there 
had  been  substituted  one  cold,  stiff,  formal,  and  cere- 
monious assembly  on  the  first  day  of  every  year.  At 
this  annual  levee,  notwithstanding  its  pomp  and  pa- 
geantry, no  expense  whatever  is  incurred  by  the  Presi- 
dent personally.  No  fruits,  cake,  wine,  coffee,  hard 
cider,  or  other  refreshments  of  any  kind  are  tendered 
to  his  guests.  Indeed,  it  would  militate  against  all  the 
rules  of  court  etiquette,  now  established  at  the  palace, 
to  permit  vulgar  eating  and  drinking  on  this  grand 
gala  day.  The  Marine  Band,  however,  is  always 
ordered  from  the  Navy  Yard  and  stationed  in  the 
spacious  front  hall,  from  whence  they  swell  the  rich 
saloons  of  the  palace  with  '  Hail  to  the  Chief!'  '  Wha'll 
be  King  but  Charley?'  and  other  humdrum  airs,  which 
ravish  with  delight  the  ears  of  warriors  who  have  never 
smelt  powder.  As  the  people's  cash,  and  not  his  own, 
pays  for  all  the  services  of  the  Marine  Band,  its  em- 
ployment at  the  palace  does  not  conflict  with  the  pecu- 
liar views  of  the  President  in  regard  to  the  obvious 
difference  between  public  and  private  economy. 

"  At  these  '  annual  State  levees,'  the  great  doors  of 
the  '  East  Room,'  '  Blue  Elliptical  Saloon,'  '  Green 
Drawing  Room,'  and  '  Yellow  Drawing  Room  '  are 
thrown  open  at  twelve  o'clock  '  precisely '  to  the 
anxious  feet  of  gayly  appareled  noblemen,  honorable 
men,  gentlemen,  and  ladies  of  all  the  nations  and  king- 


230 


Perley*s   Reminiscences. 


doms  of  the  earth,  many  of  whom  appear  ambitiously 
intent  upon  securing  an  early  recognition  from  the 
head  of  the  mansion.  The  President,  at  the  '  same  in- 
stant of  time,'  assumes  his  station  about  four  feet 
within  the  '  Blue  Elliptical  Saloon,'  and  facing  the  door 
which  looks  out  upon  the  spacious  front  hall,  but  is 
separated  from  it,  as  before  remarked,  by  a  screen  of 
Ionic  columns.  He  is  supported  on  the  right  and  left 


THE   BLUE  ROOM. 

by  the  Marshal  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  by  one 
of  the  high  officers  of  the  Government.  The  Marine 
Band  having  been  assigned  their  position  at  the  eastern 
end  of  the  hall,  with  all  their  fine  instruments  in  full 
tune,  '  at  the  same  identical  moment '  strike  up  one  of 
our  most  admired  *  national  airs  ;'  and  forthwith  a  cur- 
rent of  life  flows  in  at  the  wide-spread  outer  door  of  the 
palace,  and  glides  with  the  smoothness  of  music 
through  the  spacious  hall  by  the  Ionic  screen  into  the 
royal  presence.  Here  (to  drop  for  a  moment  my  liquid 


That  Smile  Eternal.  231 

figure)  eacli  and  every  individual  is  presented  and  re- 
ceived with  a  gentle  shake  of  the  hand,  and  is  greeted 
with  that  '  smile  eternal '  which  plays  over  the  soft  fea- 
tures of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  save  when  he  calls  to  mind 
how  confoundedly  '  Old  Tip  '  chased,  caught,  and  licked 
Proctor  and  Tecurnseh.  Immediately  after  the  intro- 
duction or  recognition  the  current  sets  toward  the 
'  East  Room,'  and  thus  this  stream  of  living  men  and 
women  continues  to  flow  and  flow  and  flow,  for  about 
the  space  of  three  hours — the  '  Democratic  President ' 
being  the  only  orb  around  which  all  this  pomp,  pride, 
and  parade  revolve.  To  him  all  these'  lesser  planets 
turn,  '  as  the  sunflower  turns  '  to  the  sun,  and  feel  their 
colors  brightened  when  a  ray  of  favor  or  a  '  royal  smile  ' 
falls  upon  them." 


WILLIAM  LEARNED  MARCY  was  born  at  Sturbridge,  Massa  husetts,  December  i2th,  1786;  was 
United  States  Senator  from  New  York  from  December  5th,  1831,  to  July,  1832,  when  he  resigned ; 
was  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  1833-1839;  was  Secretary  of  War  under  President  Polk, 
March  sth,  1845,  to  March  3d,  1843 ;  was  Secretary  of  State  under  President  Pierce,  March  7th. 
1853,  to  March  4th,  1857,  and  died  at  Ballaton  Spa,  New  York,  July  4th,  1857. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   LOG  CABIN   AND    HARD  CIDER   CAMPAIGN. 

THE  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN — POLITICAL  SONGS — WHIG  CONVENTIONS — 
GREAT  PARADES— CORWIN'S  REPLY  TO  CRARY — CRARY'S  COMPLETE 
DISCOMFITURE — THE  CAMPAIGN  PAPER — HORACE  GREELEY — HENRY 
CLAY  ON  THE  STUMP — AMOS  KENDALL— THE  FALL  ELECTIONS — PIPE- 
LAYING— THE  WHIGS  TRIUMPHANT. 

THE  Presidential  campaign  of  1840  surpassed  in 
excitement  and  intensity  of  feeling  all  which 
had  preceded  it,  and  in  these  respects  it  has 
not  since  been  equaled.  It  having  been  sneeringly  re- 
marked by  a  Democratic  writer  that  General  Harrison 
lived  in  a  log  cabin  and  had  better  remain  there,  the 
Whigs  adopted  the  log  cabin  as  one  of  their  emblems. 
Log  cabins  were  raised  everywhere  for  Whig  headquar- 
ters, some  of  them  of  large  size,  and  almost  every 
voting  precinct  had  its  Tippecanoe  Club  with  its  chor- 
isters. 

For  the  first  time  in  our  land  the  power  of  song  was 
invoked  to  aid  a  Presidential  candidate,  and  immense 
editions  of  log  cabin  song-books  were  sold.  Many  of 
these  songs  were  parodies  on  familiar  ballads.  One  of 
the  best  compositions,  the  authorship  of  which  was  as- 
cribed to  George  P.  Morris,  the  editor  of  the  New  York 
Mirror,  was  a  parody  on  the  Old  Oaken  Bucket.  The 
first  verse  ran : 
232 


Electioneering  Extraordinary.  233 

"  Oh  !  dear  to  my  soul  are  the  days  of  our  glory, 

The  time-honored  days  of  our  national  pride  ; 
When  heroes  and  statesmen  ennobled  our  story, 

And  boldly  the  foes  of  our  country  defied  : 
When  victory  hung  o'er  our  flag,  proudly  waving, 

And  the  battle  was  fought  by  the  valiant  and  true 
For  our  homes  and  our  loved  ones,  the  enemies  braving, 

Oh  !  then  stood  the  soldier  of  Tippecanoe — 
The  iron -armed  soldier,  the  true-hearted  soldier 

The  gallant  old  soldier  of  Tippecanoe. ' ' 

Mass  conventions  were  held  by  the  Whigs  in  the 


TIPPECANOE  LOG  CABIN. 
(From  a  Campaign  Engraving.) 


larger  cities  and  in  the  central  towns  at  the  great  West. 
They  were  attended  by  thousands,  who  came  from  the 
plow,  the  forge,  the  counter,  and  the  desk,  at  a  sacrifice 
of  personal  convenience  and  often  at  considerable  ex- 
pense, to  give  a  hearty  utterance  to  their  deep-felt 
opposition  to  the  party  in  power.  Delegations  to  these 
conventions  would  often  ride  in  carriages  or  on  horse- 
back twenty-five  or  thirty  miles,  camping  out  during 
the  excursion.  They  carried  banners,  and  often  had  a 


234  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

small  log  cabin  mounted  on  wheels,  in  which  was  a 
barrel  of  hard  cider,  the  beverage  of  the  campaign. 
On  the  day  of  the  convention,  and  before  the  speaking, 
there  was  always  a  procession,  in  which  the  delegations 
sang  and  cheered  as  they  marched  along,  sometimes 
rolling  balls  on  which  were  the  names  of  the  States, 
while  the  music  of  numerous  bands  aided  in  imparting 
enthusiasm. 

The  speaking  was  from  a  platform,  over  which  floated 
the  national  flag,  and  on  which  were  seated  the  invited 
guests,  the  local  political  magnates,  the  clergymen  of 


A  TIPPECANOE  PROCESSION. 


the  place,  and  generally  a  few  Revolutionary  soldiers, 
who  were  greeted  with  loud  applause.  The  principal 
orators  during  the  campaign  were  Henry  Clay,  Daniel 
Webster,  William  C.  Preston,  Henry  A.  Wise,  Thomas 
Corwin,  Thomas  Bwing,  Richard  W.  Thompson,  and 
scores  of  less  noted  names.  General  Harrison  took 
the  stump  himself  at  several  of  the  Western  gather- 
ings, and  spoke  for  over  an  hour  on  each  occasion. 
His  demeanor  was  that  of  a  well-bred,  well-educated, 
venerable  Virginia  gentleman,  destitute  of  humor  and 
fond  of  quoting  from  classic  authors. 

The  favorite  campaign  document,  of  which  hundreds 


Corwin  versus  Crary.  235 

of  thousands  were  circulated  through  the  mails  under 
the  franks  of  the  Whig  Congressmen,  was  the  reply  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  by  Thomas  Corwin,  of 
Ohio,  to  an  attack  upon  Harrison's  military  record 
made  by  Mr.  Isaac  E.  Crary.  A  native  of  Connecticut, 
Mr.  Crary  had  migrated  to  Michigan,  and  was  the  first 
and  the  only  Representative  from  that  recently  admit- 
ted State.  Anxious  to  distinguish  himself,  he  under- 
took to  criticise  the  military  career  of  General  Harri- 
son with  great  unfairness  and  partisan  vigor.  Mr. 
Corwin  replied  the  next  day  in  one  of  the  most  wonder- 
ful speeches  ever  delivered  at  Washington.  For  vigor- 
ous argument  and  genuine  wit  the  speech  has  rarely 
been  equaled.  Those  who  heard  it  agree  that  his  de- 
fense of  Harrison  was  overwhelming  and  the  annihila- 
tion of  Crary  complete.  The  House  was  convulsed 
with  laughter  at  the  richness  and  originality  of  the 
humor,  and  at  times  almost  awed  by  the  great  dignity 
and  profound  arguments  of  the  orator.  The  pages  of 
history  were  ransacked  for  illustrations  to  sustain  the 
speaker,  and  all  were  poured  in  rapid  profusion  upon 
the  head  of  poor  Crary,  who  sat  amazed  and  stupefied 
at  the  storm  he  had  provoked.  As  Corwin  proceeded 
the  members  left  their  seats  and  clustered  thickly 
about  him,  the  reporters  laid  down  their  pens,  the  pre- 
siding officer  his  gavel,  and  everybody  gave  themselves 
up  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  hour.  As  Mr.  Corwin 
painted  in  mock  heroic  style  the  knowledge  of  mili- 
tary affairs  which  the  lawyer  member  from  Michigan 
had  acquired  from  reading  TidcTs  Practice  and  Espin- 
asse^s  Nisi  Prius,  studies  so  happily  adapted  to  the  art 
of  war,  the  House  fairly  roared  with  delight. 

He  drew  a  mirth-provoking  picture  of  Crary  in  his 
capacity  of  a  militia  brigadier  at  the  head  of  his  legion 


236 


Parley's  Reminiscences. 


on  parade  day,  with  his  "  crop-eared,  bushy-tailed  mare 
and  sickle  hams — the  steed  that  laughs  at  the  shaking 
of  the  spear,  and  whose  neck  was  clothed  with  thunder," 
and  likened  Crary  to  Alexander  the  Great  with  his 
war-horse,  Bucephalus,  at  the  head  of  his  Macedonian 
phalanx. 

He  traced  all  the  characteristic  exploits  of  the  as- 
sembled throng  on  those  old-time  mustering  occasions. 
The  wretched  diversity  in  height  and  build  of  the 


GENERAL  CRARY  MARSHALING  HIS  HOSTS. 

marshaled  hosts  ;  the  wild  assortment  of  accoutrements, 
from  the  ancient  battle-ax  to  the  modern  broom-stick ; 
the  trooping  boys,  the  slovenly  girls,  the  mock  enthu- 
siasm of  the  spectators,  all  were  painted  with  a  master's 
hand.  Finally,  after  reciting  Crary 's  deeds  of  valor 
and  labor  during  the  training  day,  Corwin  left  him 
and  his  exhausted  troop  at  a  corner  grocery  assuaging 
the  fires  of  their  souls  with  copious  draughts  of  whisky 
drank  from  the  shells  of  slaughtered  watermelons. 
When  Mr.  Corwin  came  to  give  the  history  of  General 


Greeley^s   Venture. 


237 


I A  I 


Harrison  and  defend  his  military  record,  lie  rose  to  the 
height  of  pure  eloquence,  and  spoke  with  convincing 
force  and  unanswerable  logic.  The  fate  of  Crary  was 
sealed.  Probably  no  such  personal  discomfiture  was 
ever  known  from  the  effect  of  a  single  speech.  He 
never  recovered  from  the  blow,  and  was  known  at 
home  and  abroad  as  "  the  late  General  Crary."  Bveu  at 
home  the  farmers  and  the  boys,  in  watermelon  season, 
would  always  offer 
him  the  fruit  with  sly 
jests  and  jeers  and  a 
joke  at  his  military  ca- 
reer ;  but  his  public 
life  and  usefulness 
were  at  an  end. 

In  May,  1840,  there 
was  received  at  Wash- 
ington the  initial  num- 
ber of  the  The  Log 
Cabin,  a  campaign 
paper  published  at 
New  York  by  Horace 
Greeley.  It  was  print- 
ed at  the  office  of  the 
New  Yorker,  then  ed- 
ited by  Mr.  Greeley,  on  a  thin  super-royal  sheet,  and  the 
price  for  twenty-eight  weekly  issues  was  fifty-  cents  for 
a  single  copy — larger  numbers  much  less.  It  contained 
a  few  illustrations  bearing  on  the  election,  plans  of 
General  Harrison's  battle-grounds,  and  campaign  songs 
set  to  music. 

Mr.  Greeley's  paper  was  recommended  to  leading 
Whigs  at  Washington  by  Thurlow  Weed,  and  he  ob- 
tained eighty  thousand  subscribers,  the  Whig  Con- 


HARD  CIDER  TRIUMPHANT. 


238 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


gressmen  recommending  the  paper  to  their  constituents. 
The  Log  Cabin  was  the  foundation  of  the  Tribune,  and 
thenceforth  until  his  death  Mr.  Greeley  was  well 
known  at  the  National  Capital.  He  was  a  man  of 
intense  convictions  and  indomitable  industry,  and  he 
wielded  an  incisive,  ready  pen,  which  went  straight  to 
the  point  without  circumlocution  or  needless  use  of 
words.  Although  he  was  a  somewhat  erratic  champion 

of  Fourierism,  vegeta- 
rianism, temperance, 
anti-hanging,  and  abo- 
lition, there  was  a 
"  method  in  his  mad- 
ness," and  his  hereti- 
cal views  were  evi- 
dently the  honest  con- 
victions of  his  heart. 
Often  egotistical,  dog- 
matic, and  personal, 
no  one  could  question 
his  uprightness  and 
thorough  devotion  to 
the  noblest  principles 
of  progressive  civiliza- 
tion. Inspired  by  that 
true  philanthropy  that  loves  all  mankind  equally  and 
every  one  of  his  neighbors  better  than  himself,  he  was 
often  victimized  by  those  whose  stories  he  believed 
and  to  whom  he  loaned  his  hard-earned  savings.  The 
breath  of  slander  did  not  sully  his  reputation,  and 
he  never  engaged  in  lobbying  at  Washington  for 
money,  although  friendship  several  times  prompted 
him  to  advocate  appropriations  for  questional  jobs 
— the  renewal  of  patents  which  were  monopolies,  and 


HORACE  GREELEY. 


Hot  Work.  239 

the  election  of  Public  Printers  who  were  notoriously 
corrupt. 

Mr.  Clay  "  sulked  in  his  tent  "  until  August,  when 
he  went  to  Nashville  and  addressed  a  Whig  Conven- 
tion. "  Look,"  said  he,  in  conclusion,  "  at  the  position 
of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  They  stood  side  by  side, 
their  sons  fought  side  by  side,  at  New  Orleans.  Ken- 
tuckians  and  Tennesseeans  now  fight  another  and  a 
different  kind  of  battle.  But  they  are  fighting  now, 
as  then,  a  band  of  mercenaries,  the  cohorts  of  power. 
They  are  fighting  a  band  of  office-holders,  who  call 
General  Harrison  a  coward,  an  imbecile,  an  old 
woman ! 

"  Yes,  General  Harrison  is  called  a  coward,  but  he 
fought  more  battles  than  any  other  General  during  the 
last  war  and  never  sustained  a  defeat.  He  is  no  states- 
man, and  yet  he  has  filled  more  civil  offices  of  trust  and 
importance  than  almost  any  other  man  in  the  Union." 

A  man  in  the  crowd  here  cried  out,  "  Tell  us  of  Van 
Buren's  battles !" 

"  Ah  !"  said  Mr.  Clay,  "  I  will  have  to  use  my  col- 
league's language  and  tell  you  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's 
'  three  great  battles  !'  He  says,  that  he  fought  General 
Commerce  and  conquered  him ;  that  he  fought  General 
Currency  and  conquered  him,  and  that,  with  his  Cuban 
allies,  he  fought  the  Seminoles  and  got  conquered!" 

Mr.  Kendall  came  to  the  aid  of  President  Van  Buren, 
and  resigned  the  office  of  Postmaster-General  that  he 
might  sustain  the  Administration  with  his  powerful  pen. 
He  thus  brought  upon  himself  much  malignant  abuse, 
but  in  the  many  newspaper  controversies  in  which  he 
was  engaged  he  never  failed  to  vindicate  himself  and 
overwhelm  his  assailant  with  a  clearness  and  vigor  of 
argument  and  a  power  of  style  with  which  few  pens 


240 


Perlev's  Reminiscences. 


could  cope.  He  was  not  only  assailed  with  the  rudest 
violence  of  newspaper  denunciation,  but  he  was  alluded 
to  by  Whig  speakers  in  scornful  terms,  while  carica- 
turists represented  him  as  the  Mephistopheles  of  the 
Van  Buren  Administration,  and  Log  Cabin  Clubs  roared 
offensive  campaign  songs  at  midnight  before  his  house, 
terrifying  his  children  by  the  discharges  of  a  small  can- 
non. Defeat  stared  him  in  the  face,  but  he  never 

quailed,  but  faced  the 
storm  of  attack  in  every 
direction,  and  zealously 
defended  the  Democratic 
banner. 

The  Whigs  of  Maine 
led  off  by  electing  Ed- 
ward Kent  Governor,  and 
five  of  her  eight  Con- 
gressmen, including  Wil- 
liam Pitt  Fessenden  and 
Elisha  H.  Alien,  who  af- 
terward, when  Minister 
from  the  Sandwich  Is- 
lands to  the  United 
States,  fell  dead  at  a  New 
Year's  reception  at  the  White  House.  Delaware,  Mary- 
land, and  Georgia  soon  afterward  followed  suit,  electing 
Whig  Congressmen  and  State  officers.  In  October 
the  Ohio  Whigs  elected  Thomas  Corwin  Governor,  by 
a  majority  of  nearly  twenty  thousand  over  Wilson 
Shannon,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  triumphant  elec- 
tion of  Harrison  and  Tyler  was  inevitable.  In  New 
York  William  H.  Seward  was  re-elected  Governor,  but 
he  ran  over  seven  thousand  votes  behind  General  Har- 
rison, owing  to  certain  local  issues. 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWARD. 


Pipe- Lay  ing.  241 

For  some  months  b3fore  the  election  the  Democrats 
mysteriously  intimated  that  at  the  last  moment  some 
powerful  engine  was  to  be  put  into  operation  against 
the  Whig  cause.  Mr.  Van  Buren  himself  was  reported 
as  having  assured  an  intimate  friend,  who  condoled 
with  him  on  his  gloomy  prospects,  that  he  "  had  a  card 
to  play  yet  which  neither  party  dreamed  of."  The 
Attorney-General  and  the  District  Attorneys  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  were  as  mysterious  as  Delphic 
oracles,  while  other  Federal  officers  in  those  cities  were 
profound  and  significant  in  their  head-shakings  and 
winks  in  reference  to  disclosures  which  were  to  be  made 
just  before  the  Presidential  election,  and  which  were  to 
blow  the  Whigs  ':  sky-high." 

At  last  the  magazine  was  exploded  with  due  regard 
to  dramatic  effect.  Carefully  prepared  statements,  sup- 
ported by  affidavits,  were  simultaneously  published  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  showing  that  a  man 
named  Glentworth  had  been  employed  by  some  leading 
New  York  Whigs  in  1838  to  procure  illegal  votes  from 
Philadelphia.  The  men  were  ostensibly  engaged  in 
laying  pipe  for  the  introduction  of  Croton  water. 

Messrs.  Griimell,  Blatchford,  Wetmore,  Draper,  and 
other  leading  New  York  Whigs  implicated  promptly 
published  affidavits  denying  that  they  had  ever 
employed  Glentworth  to  supply  New  York  with  Whig 
voters  from  Philadelphia.  It  was  proven,  however,  that 
he  had  received  money  and  had  taken  some  thirty 
Philadelphians  to  New  York  the  day  before  the  election. 
There  was  no  evidence,  however,  that  more  than  one  oi 
them  had  voted,  and  the  only  effect  of  the  disclosure 
was  to  add  the  word  "  pipe-laying "  to  the  political 
vocabulary. 

The  Whigs  fought  the  battle  to  the  end  with  confi- 
16 


242  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

dence  of  success,  and  displayed  an  enthusiasm  and  har- 
mony never  witnessed  in  this  country  before  or  since. 
Commencing  with  the  harmonious  selection  of  General 
Harrison  as  their  candidate,  they  enlisted  Clay  and 
Webster,  his  defeated  rivals,  in  his  support,  and,  having 
taken  the  lead,  they  kept  it  right  through,  really  defeat- 
ing the  Democrats  in  advance  of  the  campaign.  The 
South  were  not  satisfied  with  Mr.  Van  Buren's  attitude 
on  the  admission  of  Texas,  which  stood  knocking  for 
admission  at  the  door  of  the  Union,  and  "  the  Northern 
man  with  Southern  principles  "  was  not  the  recipient  of 
many  Southern  votes  : 

"  Then  hurrah  for  the  field  where  the  bald  eagle  flew, 
In  pride  o'er  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe  !" 


THOMAS  CORWIN  was  born  in  Bourbon  County,  Kentucky,  July  agth,  1794;  was  a  Representative 
in  Congress  from  Ohio  from  December  sth,  1831,10  1840,  when  he  resigned  and  was  elected  Governor 
of  Ohio ;  was  defeated  for  Governor  of  Ohio  in  1842 ;  was  a  Senator  from  Ohio  from  December  ist, 
1845,  to  July  2zd,  1850,  when  he  resigned,  having  been  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  by  Pres- 
ident Taylor,  and  served  until  March  ^d,  1853;  was  again  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  Ohio, 
December  sth,  1859, to  March  sd,  1861 ;  was  Minister  to  Mexico,  March  azd,  1861,  to  September  ist, 
1864 ;  died  suddenly  at  Washington  City,  December  i8th,  1865. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ENTER  WHIGS — EXIT  DEMOCRATS. 

THE  FOURTEENTH  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION — ENTER  HARRISON — EXIT 
VAN  BUREN— HARRISON'S  CABINET — ATTACK  UPON  MR.  WEBSTER— 
"  THE  SALT  BOILER  OF  THE  KANAWHA" — OTHER  CABINET  OFFICERS- 
HARRISON'S  INAUGURAL  MESSAGE — THE  INAUGURATION — THE"  PRO- 
CESSION—SCENES AT  THE  CAPITOL— THE  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS — 
PRESIDENT  HARRISON'S  FIRST  RECEPTION— INAUGURATION  BALLS. 

IN  1840  many  of  the  States  voted  for  Presidential 
electors  on  different  days,  which  rendered  the 
contest  more  exciting  as  it  approached  its  close. 
There  was  no  telegraphic  communication,  and  there 
were  but  few  lines  of  railroad,  so  that  it  was  some  time 
after  a  large  State  had  voted  before  its  complete  and 
correct  returns  could  be  received.  At  last  all  the  back 
townships  had  been  heard  from  and  the  exultant  Whigs 
were  certain  that  they  had  elected  their  candidates  by  a 
popular  majority  of  over  one  hundred  thousand ! 
Twenty  States  had  given  Harrison  and  Tyler  two 
hundred  and  thirty-four  electoral  votes,  while  Van 
Buren  and  Johnson  had  received  but  sixty  electoral 
votes  in  six  States.  The  log  cabins  were  the  scenes  of 
great  rejoicing  over  this  unparalleled  political  victory, 
and  the  jubilant  Whigs  sang  louder  than  before  : 

"Van,  Van,  Van  is  a  used-up  man." 

General  William  Henry  Harrison  was  by  birth  and 
education  a  Virginian.     His  father,  Benjamin  Harri- 

243 


244 


Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 


son,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was 
the  largest  man  in  the  old  Congress  of  the  Confedera- 
tion, and  when  John  Hancock  was  elected  President  of 
that  body  Harrison  seized  him  and  bore  him  in  his 


WILLIAM   HENRY   HARRISON. 

arms  to  the  chair.  On  reaching  manhood  William 
Henry  Harrison  migrated  to  Ohio,  then  the  far  West, 
and  for  forty  years  was  prominently  identified  with  the 
interests,  the  perils,  and  the  hopes  of  that  region. 
Universally  beloved  in  the  walks  of  peace,  and  some- 


Harrison? s  Arrival  at  Washington. 


245 


what  distinguished  by  the  ability  with  which  he  had 
discharged  the  duties  of  a  succession  of  offices  which  he. 
had  filled,  yet  he  won  his  greatest  renown  in  military 
service.  But  he  had  never  abjured  the  political  doc- 
trines of  the  Old  Dominion,  and  his  published  letters, 
and  speeches  during  the  Presidential  campaign  which 
resulted  in  his  election  showed  that  he  was  a  believer 
in  what  the  Virginians  called  a  strict  construction  of 
financial  questions,  internal  improvements,  the  veto 
power,  and  the  protection  of  negro  slavery.  His  intel- 


CITY   HALL,    WASHINGTON. 

lect  was  enriched  with  classical  reminiscences,  which 
he  was  fond  of  quoting  in  writing  or  in  conversation. 
When  he  left  his  residence  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio 
for  the  seat  of  Government  he  compared  his  progress 
to  the  return  of  Cicero  to  Rome,  congratulated  and- 
cheered  as  he  passed  on  by  the  victorious  Cato  and  his 
admiring  countrymen. 

On  General  Harrison's  arrival  at  Washington,  on  a 
stormy  afternoon  in  February,  1841,  he  walked  from 
the  railroad  station  (then  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue) , 
to  the  City  Hall.  He  was  a  tall,  thin,  careworn  oM 


246 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


gentleman,  with,  a  martial  bearing,  carrying  his  hat  in 
his  hand,  and  bowing  his  acknowledgments  for  the 
cheers  with  which  he  was  greeted  by  the  citizens  who 
lined  the  sidewalks.  On  reaching  the  City  Hall  the 
President-elect  was  formally  addressed  by  the  Mayor, 
Colonel  W.  W.  Seaton,  of  the  National  Intelligencer, 
who  supplemented  his  panegyric  by  a  complimentary 
editorial  article  in  his  newspaper  of  the  next  morning. 


ASHLAND. 


Before  coming  East  General  Harrison  visited  Henry 
Clay,  at  Ashland,  and  tendered  him  the  position  of 
Secretary  of  State,  which  Mr.  Clay  promptly  de- 
clined, saying  that  he  had  fully  determined  not  to  hold, 
office  under  the  new  Administration,  although  he  in- 
tended cordially  to  support  it.  General  Harrison 
thanked  Mr.  Clay  for  his  frankness,  expressing  deep 
regret  that  he  could  not  accept  the  portfolio  of  the  De- 
partment of  State.  He  further  said  that  if  Mr.  Clay 


Forming  a  Cabinet.  247 

had  accepted  this  position  it  was  his  intention  to  offer 
the  portfolio  of  the  Treasury  Department  to  Mr.  Web- 
ster ;  but  since  Mr.  Clay  had  declined  a  seat  in  the 
Cabinet,  he  should  not  offer  one  to  Mr.  Webster. 

Mr.  Clay  objected  to  this  conclusion,  and  remarked 
that  while  Mr.  Webster  was  not  peculiarly  fitted  for 
the  control  of  the  national  finances,  he  was  eminently 
qualified  for  the  management  of  the  foreign  relations. 
Besides,  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Webster  as  Secretary 
of  State  would  inspire  confidence  in  the  Administration 
abroad,  which  would  be  highly  important,  considering 
the  existing  critical  relations  with  Great  Britain.  Gen- 
eral Harrison  accepted  the  suggestion,  and  on  his  return 
to  North  Bend  wrote  to  Mr.  Webster,  offering  him  the 
Department  of  State  and  asking  his  advice  concerning 
the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet.  The  "  solid  men  of 
Boston,"  who  had  begun  to  entertain  grave  apprehen- 
sions of  hostilities  with  Great  Britain,  urged  Mr.  Web- 
ster to  accept,  and  pledged  themselves  to  contribute 
liberally  to  his  support. 

No  sooner  was  it  intimated  that  Mr.  Webster  was  to 
be  the  Premier  of  the  incoming  Administration  than  the 
Calhoun  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  denounced  him 
as  having  countenanced  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and 
when  his  letter  resigning  his  seat  in  the  Senate  was 
read  in  that  body,  Senator  Cuthbert,  of  Georgia, 
attacked  him.  The  Georgian's  declamation  was  deliv- 
ered with  clenched  fist ;  he  pounded  his  desk,  gritted 
his  teeth,  and  used  profane  language.  Messrs.  Clay, 
Preston,  and  other  Senators  defended  Mr.  Webster  from 
the  attack  of  the  irate  Georgian,  and  his  friends  had 
printed  at  Washington  a  large  edition  of  a  speech 
which  he  had  made  a  few  months  before  on  the  portico 
of  the  Capitol  at  Richmond  before  a  vast  assemblage. 


248 


Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 


"  Beneath  the  light  of  an  October  sun,  I  say,"  he  then 
declared,  "  there  is  no  power,  directly  or  indirectly,  in 
Congress  or  the  General  Government,  to  interfere  in 
the  slightest  degree  with  the  institutions  of  the  South." 
General  Harrison,  to  quiet  the  cry  of  "Abolitionist," 
which  had  been  raised  against  him  as  well  as  Mr. 
Webster,  made  a  visit  to  Richmond  prior  to  his  inaugu- 
ration, during  which  he  availed  himself  of  every  pos- 


ROCK  CREEK. 


sible  occasion  to  assert  his  devotion  to  the  rights, 
privileges,  and  prejudices  of  the  South  concerning  the 
existence  of  slavery.  On  his  return  he  took  a  daily 
ride  on  the  picturesque  banks  of  Rock  Creek,  rehears- 
ing portions  of  his  inaugural  address. 

The  portfolio  of  the  Treasury  Department  was  given 
to  Thomas  Kwing,  of  Ohio  (familiarly  known  from  his 
early  avocation  as  "  the  Salt  Boiler  of  the  Kanawha  "), 
who  was  physically  and  intellectually  a  great  man.  He 


The  New  Secretaries.  249 

was  of  medium  height,  very  portly,  his  ruddy  complex- 
ion setting  off  his  bright,  laughing  eyes  to  the  best 
advantage.  On  "  the  stump  "  he  had  but  few  equals, 
as  in  simple  language  and  without  apparent  oratorical 
effort  he  breathed  his  own  spirit  into  vast  audiences, 
and  swayed  them  with  resistless  power.  He  resided  in 
a  house  built  by  Count  de  Menou,  one  of  the  French 
Legation,  and  his  daughter  Hllen,  now  the  wife  of  Gen- 
eral Sherman,  attended  school  at  the  academy  attached 
to  the  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation,  in 
Georgetown. 

The  coming  Secretary  of  War  was  John  Bell,  of  Ten- 
nessee, a  courtly  Jackson  Democrat  in  years  past,  who 
had  preferred  to  support  Hugh  L.  White  rather  than 
Martin  Van  Buren,  and  had  thus  drifted  into  the  Whig 
ranks.  He  had  served  as  a  Representative  in  Con- 
gress since  1827,  officiating  during  one  term  as 
Speaker,  and  he  was  personally  very  popular. 

For  Secretary  of  the  Navy  George  E.  Badger,  of 
North  Carolina,  was  selected.  He  had  been  graduated 
from  Yale  College,  but  had  never  held  other  than  local 
offices.  His  sailor-like  figure  and  facetious  physiog- 
nomy were  very  appropriate  for  the  position,  and  he 
soon  became  a  decided  favorite  at  the  Washington 
"  messes,"  where  he  was  always  ready  to  contribute 
freely  from  his  fund  of  anecdotes. 

Francis  Granger,  of  New  York,  who  was  to  be  Post- 
master-General, was  also  a  graduate  of  Yale  College. 
He  had  been  a  member  of  the  New  York  State  Legis- 
lature and  of  Congress,  and  the  unsuccessful  Whig 
candidate  for  Vice-President  in  1836.  He  was  a  genial, 
rosy-faced  gentleman,  whose  "  silver  gray  "  hair  after- 
ward gave  its  name  to  the  party  in  New  York  which 
recognized  him  as  its  leader. 


250  Perley>s  Reminiscences. 

The  Attorney-General  was  J.  J.  Crittenden,  a  Ken- 
tuckian,  whose  intellectual  vigor,  integrity  of  character, 
and  legal  ability  had  secured  for  him  a  nomination  to 
the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  by  President  Adams, 
which,  however,  the  Democratic  Senate  failed  to  confirm. 
Kept  in  the  shade  by  Henry  Clay,  he  became  somewhat 
crabbed,  but  his  was  one  of  the  noblest  intellects  of  his 
generation.  His  persuasive  eloquence,  his  sound  judg- 
ment, his  knowledge  of  the  law,  his  lucid  manner  of 
stating  facts,  and  his  complete  grasp  of  every  case 
which  he  examined  had  made  him  a  power  in  the 
Senate  and  in  the  Supreme  Court,  as  he  was  destined 
to  be  in  the  Cabinet. 

The  inaugural  message  had  been  prepared  by  Gen- 
eral Harrison  in  Ohio,  and  he  brought  it  with  him  to 
Washington,  written  in  his  large  hand  on  one  side  of 
sheets  of  foolscap  paper.  When  it  was  submitted  to 
Mr.  Webster,  he  respectfully  suggested  the  propriety  of 
abridging  it,  and  of  striking  from  it  some  of  the  many 
classical  allusions  and  quotations  with  which  it 
abounded.  He  found,  however,  that  General  Harrison 
was  not  disposed  to  receive  advice,  and  that  he  was  re- 
luctant to  part  with  any  evidence  of  his  classic  scholar- 
ship. Colonel  Seaton  used  to  relate  with  great  gusto 
how  Mr.  Webster  once  came  late  to  a  dinner  party  at 
his  house,  and  said,  as  he  entered  the  dining-room, 
when  the  soup  was  being  served :  "  Excuse  my  tardi- 
ness, but  I  have  been  able  to  dispose  of  two  Roman 
Emperors  and  a  pro-Consul,  which  should  be  a  suffi- 
cient excuse." 

General  Harrison  was  inaugurated  on  Thursday, 
March  4th,  1841.  The  city  had  filled  up  during  the 
preceding  night,  and  the  roar  of  the  morning  salutes 
was  echoed  by  the  bands  of  the  military  as  they 


To  the  Inauguration.  251 

marched  to  take  their  designated  places.  The  sun  was 
obscured,  but  the  weather  was  mild,  and  the  streets 
were  perfectly  dry.  At  ten  o'clock  a  procession  was 
formed,  which  escorted  the  President-elect  from  his  tem- 
porary residence,  by  way  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  to 
the  Capitol.  No  regular  troops  were  on  parade,  but  the 
uniformed  militia  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  rein- 
forced by  others  from  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  per- 
formed escort  duty  in  a  very  creditable  manner.  A 
carriage  presented  by  the  Whigs  of  Baltimore,  and 
drawn  by  four  horses,  had  been  provided  for  the  Presi- 
dent-elect, but  he  preferred  to  ride  on  horseback,  as  the 
Roman  Emperors  were  wont  to  pass  along  the  Appian 
Way.  The  old  hero  made  a  fine  appearance,  mounted, 
as  he  was,  on  a  spirited  white  charger.  At  his  right, 
slightly  in  the  rear,  rode  Major  Hurst,  who  had  been 
his  aid-de-camp  at  the  Battle  of  the  Thames ;  at  his  left, 
in  a  similar  position,  rode  Colonel  Todd,  another  aid- 
de-camp  at  the  same  battle.  An  escort  of  assistant 
marshals,  finely  mounted,  followed.  Although  the 
weather  was  chilly,  the  General  refused  to  wear  an 
overcoat,  and  he  rode  with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  grace- 
fully bowing  acknowledgments  of  cheers  from  the  mul- 
titudes on  the  sidewalks,  and  of  the  waving  of  white 
handkerchiefs  by  ladies  at  the  windows  on  either  side. 
Behind  the  President-elect  came  Tippecanoe  Clubs 
and  other  political  associations,  with  music,  banners, 
and  badges.  The  Club  from  Prince  George  County, 
Maryland,  had  in  its  ranks  a  large  platform  on  wheels, 
drawn  by  six  white  horses,  on  which  was  a  power-loom 
from  the  Laurel  Factory,  with  operatives  at  work.  Sev- 
eral of  the  clubs  drew  large  log  cabins  on  wheels, 
decked  with  suitable  inscriptions,  cider-barrels,  'coon- 
skins,  and  other  frontier  articles.  A  feature  of  the 


252 


Perley's  Reminiscences. 


procession  was  the  students  of  the  Jesuits'  College  at 
Georgetown,  who  appeared  in  uniform,  headed  by  their 
faculty,  and  carrying  a  beautiful  banner. 

An  immense  crowd  had  gathered  at  the  Capitol,  and 
at  ten  o'clock  ladies  who  had  tickets  were  admitted  into 
the  gallery  of  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  were  provided 


with  comfortable  seats.  The  east  door  leading  to  the 
Senate  gallery  was  soon  opened,  when  at  least  five 
thousand  persons  rushed  to  that  point.  Less  than  a 
thousand  were  enabled  to  reach  the  seats  provided. 
Soon  after  the  galleries  were  filled,  the  foreign  Ambas- 
sadors, wearing  the  court  dresses  and  insignia,  were  in- 
troduced on  the  floo'r.  The  members  of  the  Senate 


Harrisons  Inaugural  Address.  253 

took  theii  seats,  after  which  the  Senate  was  called  to 
order  by  the  Clerk,  and  Senator  King  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent/w  tern.  The  newly  elected  Senators  were  sworn. 
Vice-President  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  entered  arm-in-arm 
with  ex-Vice-President  Johnson,  and  after  the  oath  of 
office  had  been  administered  to  him  he  took  the  chair 
and  called  the  Senate  to  order. 

The  President-elect  was  then  ushered  into  the  Senate 
Chamber  by  the  Committee,  of  which  Mr.  Preston  was 
chairman.  The  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  wearing 
their  black  silk  robes,  had  taken  their  seats  in  front, 
below  the  Speaker's  chair.  The  President-elect  shook 
hands  cordially  with  a  number  of  the  Senators  and 
Judges,  and  appeared  much  younger  than  many  who 
were  his  juniors  in  years. 

At  half-past  twelve  o'clock  the  signal  was  given,  and 
the  officers  in  the  Senate  Chamber  formed  in  procession 
and  proceeded  to  the  eastern  front  of  the  Capitol,  where 
there  was  a  platform  some  fifteen  feet  high  and  large 
enough  to  accommodate  an  immense  crowd.  The  Presi- 
dent-elect took  his  seat  in  front,  Chief  Justice  Taney 
and  his  associates  by  his  side,  the  Senators  and  Ambas- 
sadors on  the  left,  and  the  ladies  at  the  sides.  The 
large  area  below  was  filled  with  an  immense  multtiude 
of  probably  not  less  than  from  forty  to  fifty  thousand 
persons.  General  Harrison,  as  "  the  observed  of  all 
observers,"  was  greeted  with  prolonged  cheers  when 
he  rose  to  deliver  his  address.  When  the  uproar  had 
subsided  he  advanced  to  the  front  of  the  platform,  and 
there  was  profound  stillness  as  he  read,  in  a  loud  and 
clear  voice,  his  inaugural  address.  He  stood  bare- 
headed, without  overcoat  or  gloves,  facing  the  cold 
northeast  wind,  while  those  seated  on  the  platform 
around  him,  although  warmly  wrapped,  suffered  from 


254  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

the  piercing  blasts.  All  were  astonished  at  the  power 
and  compass  of  his  voice.  He  spoke  until  two  p.  M. — 
one  and  a  half  hours — with  a  clearness  that  was  truly 
surprising.  So  distinctly  were  his  words  heard  that  he 
was  cheered  at  the  closing  of  every  sentiment,  particu- 
larly where  he  said  that  he  would  carry  out  the  pledge 
that  he  had  made,  that  under  no  circumstances  would 
he  run  for  another  term.  Just  before  the  close  of  the 
inaugural  he  turned  to  Chief  Justice  Taney,  who  held 
the  Bible,  and  in  a  clear  and  distinct  voice  repeated  the 
oath  required.  It  was  a  singular  fact  that  when  the 
President  took  the  oath  this  multitude  of  spectators 
before  him  spontaneously  uncovered  their  heads,  while 
the  pealing  cannon  announced  to  the  country  that  it 
had  a  new  Chief  Magistrate.  As  soon  as  the  ceremony 
was  over  the  immense  concourse  turned  their  faces 
from  the  Capitol,  and  filed  down  the  various  walks  to 
Pennsylvania  Avenue.  The  procession  formed  anew 
and  marched  to  the  White  House,  cheered  as  it  passed 
by  the  waiting  crowds. 

Entering  the  White  House,  President  Harrison  took 
his  station  in  the  reception-room,  and  the  multitude 
entered  the  front  portal,  passed  through  the  vestibule 
into  the  reception-room,  where  they  had  an  opportunity 
to  shake  hands  with  the  President,  then  passed  down 
the  rear  steps  and  out  through  the  garden.  At 
night  there  were  three  inauguration  balls,  the  prices  of 
admission  suiting  different  pockets.  At  one,  where  the 
tickets  were  ten  dollars  for  gentlemen,  the  ladies  being 
invited  guests,  there  was  a  representation  from  almost 
every  State  in  the  Union.  President  Harrison,  not- 
withstanding the  fatigues  of  the  day,  remained  over  an 
hour,  and  was  attended  by  several  members  of  his 
Cabinet.  Mr.  Webster  was  in  excellent  spirits,  and 


A  New  Administration. 


255 


chatted  familiarly  with  Mr.  Clay  at  the  punch-bowl, 
where  libations  were  drank  to  the  success  of  the  new 
Administration. 

Thus  the  new  Administration  was  inaugurated.  The 
Democrats  surrendered  the  power  which  they  had  so 
despotically  wielded  for  twelve  years,  and  their  oppo- 
nents, consolidated  under  the  Whig  banner,  took  the 
reins  of  government.  Passing  over  Webster  and  Clay, 
their  recognized  leaders,  they  had  elected  Harrison  as 
a  more  available  candidate,  he  having  been  a  gallant 
soldier  and  having  but  few  enemies.  For  Vice-Presi- 
dent  they  had  elected  John  Tyler,  for  the  sole  reason 
that  his  Democratic  affiliations  would  secure  the  elec- 
toral vote  of  Virginia. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON  was  born  In  Charles  County,  Virginia,  February  gth,  1773 ;  was  Dele- 
gate in  Congress  from  the  Northwest  Territory,  December  ad,  1790,  to  March,  1800;  was  Governor 
of  Indiana,  1801-1813  '•  was  a  Representative  In  Congress  from  Ohio,  December  2d,  1816,  to  March 
3d,  1819;  was  United  States  Senator,  December  51)1,  1825,  to  May  aoth,  1828;  was  Minister  to  Col- 
ombia, May  24th,  1828,  to  September  r6th,  1829 ;  became  President  of  the  United  States,  March 
4th,  1841,  and  died  at  Washington  City,  April  4th,  1841. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
HARRISON'S  ONE  MONTH  OF  POWER. 

CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM — DIFFERENCES  OF  OPINION — DIFFICULTY  BE- 
TWEEN CLAY  AND  KING — WASHINGTON  CORRESPONDENTS — VERBA- 
TIM REPORTS  OF  DEBATES— A  POPULAR  BRITISH  MINISTER— OTHER 
FOREIGN  DIPLOMATS — QUARRELSOME  CAROLINIANS— DANIEL  WEB- 
STER'S HOUSEKEEPING— ILLNESS  OF  PRESIDENT  HARRISON— DEATH — 
FUNERAL — THE  LAST  HONORS. 

GOVERNMENT  officials  at  Washington,  nearly 
all  of  whom  had  received  their  positions  as 
rewards  for  political  services,  and  many  of 
whom  had  displaced  worthy  men  whose  only  fault  was 
that  they  belonged  to  a  different  party,  were  somewhat 
encouraged  by  the  declarations  of  President  Harrison 
touching  the  position  of  office-holders.  It  was  known 
from  a  speech  of  his  at  Baltimore,  prior  to  his  inaugu- 
ration, that  he  intended  to  protect  the  right  of  indi- 
vidual opinion  from  official  interference,  and  in  a  few 
days  after  he  became  President  his  celebrated  civil- 
service  circular  was  issued  by  Daniel  Webster,  as 
Secretary  of  State.  It  was  addressed  to  the  heads  of 
the  Executive  Departments,  and  it  commenced  thus  : 

"  SIR: — The  President  is  of  opinion  that  it  is  a  great 
abuse  to  bring  the  patronage  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment into  conflict  with  the  freedom  of  elections ;  and 
that  this  abuse  ought  to  be  corrected  wherever  it  may 
have  been  permitted  to  exist,  and  to  be  prevented  foi 
the  future." 
256 


Union  for  the  Spoils. 


257 


It  would  have  been  fortunate  for  the  country  if  these 
views  of  President  Harrison,  so  clearly  stated  by 
Daniel  Webster  in  this  circular,  could  have  been  hon- 
estly carried  out ;  but  the  horde  of  hungry  politicians 
that  had  congregated  at  Washington,  with  racoon-tails 
in  their  hats  and  packages  of  recommendations  in  their 
pockets,  clamored  for  the  wholesale  action  of  the  politi- 
cal guillotine,  that 
they  might  fill  the 
vacancies  thereby 
created.  Whigs 
and  Federalists, 
National  Repub- 
licans and  strict 
const  ructionists, 
bank  and  anti- 
bank  men  had 
coalesced  under 
the  motto  of 
"  Union  of  the 
Whigs  for  the 
sake  of  the 
Union,"  but  they 
had  really  united 
"for  the  sake  of 
office."  The  Ad- 
ministration found  itself  forced  to  make  removals  that 
places  might  be  found  for  this  hungry  horde,  and  to 
disregard  its  high  position  on  civil  service.  Virginia 
was  especially  clamorous  for  places,  and  Vice-President 
Tyler  became  the  champion  of  hundreds  who  belonged 
to  the  first  families,  but  who  were  impecunious. 

Direct  conflict  soon  arose  between  the  President  ancv 
his  Cabinet,  he  asserting  his  right  to  make  appoint 


JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 


258  Perlefs  Reminiscences. 

ments  and  removals,  while  they  took  the  ground  that  it 
was  simply  his  duty  to  take  such  action  as  they  chose 
to  dictate.  The  Cabinet  were  sustained  by  the  opinion 
of  Attorney-General  John  J.  Crittenden,  and  they  also 
under  his  advice  claimed  the  right  to  review  the  Presi- 
dent's nominations  before  they  were  sent  to  the  Senate. 
To  the  President,  who  had  as  Governor  and  as  General 
been  in  the  habit  of  exercising  autocratic  command, 
these  attempts  to  hamper  his  action  were  very  annoy- 
ing, and  at  times  he  "  kicked  over  the  traces." 

One  day,  after  a  rather  stormy  Cabinet  meeting,  Mr. 
Webster  asked  the  President  to  appoint  one  of  his 
political  supporters,  General  James  Wilson,  of  New 
Hampshire,  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa.  Presi- 
dent Harrison  replied  that  it  would  give  him  pleasure 
to  do  so  had  he  not  promised  the  place  to  Colonel  John 
Chambers,  of  Kentucky,  his  former  aid-de-camp,  who 
had  been  acting  as  his  private  secretary.  The  next  day 
Colonel  Chambers  had  occasion  to  visit  the  Department 
of  State,  and  Mr.  Webster  asked  him  if  the  President 
had  offered  to  appoint  him  Governor  of  Iowa.  "  Yes, 
sir,"  was  the  reply.  "  Well,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Webster, 
with  sour  sternness,  a  cloud  gathering  on  his  massive 
brow,  while  his  unfathomable  eyes  glowed  with  anger, 
"  you  must  not  take  that  position,  for  I  have  promised 
it  to  my  friend,  General  Wilson.''  Colonel  Chambers, 
who  had  been  a  member  of  Congress,  and  was  older 
than  Mr.  Webster,  was  not  intimidated,  but  replied, 
"  Mr.  Webster,  I  shall  accept  the  place,  and  I  tell  you, 
sir,  not  to  undertake  to  dragoon  me !"  He  then  left 
the  room,  and  not  long  afterward  Mr.  Webster  received 
from  the  President  a  peremptory  order  to  commission 
John  Chambers,  of  Kentucky,  as  Governor  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Iowa,  which  was  complied  with. 


Challenges  and  Apologies.  259 

Mr.  Clay  undertook  to  insist  upon  some  removals, 
that  personal  friends  of  his  might  be  appointed  to  the 
offices  thus  vacated,  and  he  used  such  dictatorial  lan- 
guage that  after  he  had  left  the  White  House  President 
Harrison  wrote  him  a  formal  note,  requesting  that  he 
would  make  any  further  suggestions  he  might  desire  to 
submit  in  writing.  Mr.  Clay  was  very  much  annoyed, 
and  Mr.  King,  of  Alabama,  making  some  remarks  in 
the  Senate  soon  afterward  which  might  be  construed  as 
personally  offensive,  the  great  Commoner  opened  his 
batteries  upon  him,  saying  in  conclusion  that  the  asser- 
tions of  the  Senator  from  Alabama  were  "  false,  untrue, 
and  cowardly." 

Mr.  King  immediately  rose  and  left  the  Senate 
Chamber.  Mr.  Levin,  of  Missouri,  was  called  out,  and 
soon  returned,  bringing  a  note,  which  he  handed  to  Mr. 
Clay,  who  read  it,  and  then  handed  it  to  Mr.  Archer. 
Messrs.  Levin  and  Archer  immediately  engaged  in  an 
earnest  conversation,  and  it  was  soon  known  that  a 
challenge  had  passed;  and  they  as  seconds  were  endeav- 
oring amicably  to  arrange  the  affair.  After  four  days 
of  negotiation,  Mr.  Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  and 
other  Senators,  acting  as  mediators,  the  affair  was  hon- 
orably adjusted.  Mr.  King  withdrew  his  challenge, 
Mr.  Clay  declared  every  epithet  derogatory  to  the  honor 
of  the  Senator  from  Alabama  to  be  withdrawn,  and  Mr. 
Preston  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  the  happy  termi- 
nation of  the  misunderstanding  between  the  Senators.  • 
While  Mr.  Preston  was  speaking  Mr.  Clay  rose,  walked 
to  the  opposite  side  of  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  stop- 
ping in  front  of  the  desk  of  the  Senator  from  Alabama, 
said,  in  a  pleasant  tone,  "  King,  give  us  a  pinch  of  your 
snuff?"  Mr.  King,  springing  to  his  feet,  held  out  his 
hand,  which  was  grasped  by  Mr.  Clay  and  cordially 


260  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

shaken,  the  Senators  and  spectators  applauding  this 
pacific  demonstration. 

The  leading  Washington  correspondent  at  that  time 
was  Dr.  Francis  Bacon,  brother  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Leon- 
ard Bacon,  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  He  wrote  for 
the  New  York  American,  then  edited  by  Charles  King, 
signing  his  articles  R.  M.  T.  H. — Regular  Member 
Third  House.  Dr.  Bacon  wielded  a  powerful  pen,  and 
when  he  chose  so  to  do  could  condense  a  column  of  de- 
nunciation, satire,  and  sarcasm  into  a  single  paragraph. 
He  was  a  fine  scholar,  fearless  censor,  and  terse  writer, 
giving  his  many  readers  a  clear  idea  of  what  was  trans- 
piring at  the  Federal  metropolis. 

A  new-comer  among  the  correspondents  during  the 
Harrison  Administration  was  Mr.  Nathan  Sargent, 
whose  correspondence  to  the  Philadelphia  United  States 
Gazette,  over  the  signature  of  "  Oliver  Oldschool," 
soon  became  noted.  His  carefully  written  letters  gave 
a  continuous  narrative  of  important  events  as  they  oc- 
curred, and  he  was  one  who  aided  in  making  the  Whig 
party,  like  the  Federal  party,  which  had  preceded  it, 
eminently  respectable. 

Washington  correspondents,  up  to  this  time,  had 
been  the  mediums  through  which  a  large  portion  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  obtained  their  information 
concerning  national  affairs.  The  only  reports  of  the 
debates  in  Congress  appeared  in  the  Washington  news- 
papers often  several  weeks  after  their  delivery.  James 
Gordon  Bennett,  who  had  then  become  proprietor  of  the 
New  York  Herald,  after  publishing  President  Har- 
rison's call  for  an  extra  session  of  Congress  in  advance 
of  his  contemporaries,  determined  to  have  the  proceed- 
ings and  debates  reported  for  and  promptly  published 
in  his  own  columns.  To  superintend  the  reporting,  he 


Polishing  up  Reports. 


261 


engaged  Robert  Siitton,  who  organized  a  corps  of  pho- 
nographers,  which  was  the  nucleus  of  the  present  able 
body  of  official  reporters  of  the  debates.  Button  was  a 


DECATUR  MANSION,  THE  BRITISH   LEGATION. 


short,  stout,  pragmatical  Englishman,  whose  desire  to 
obtain  extra  allowances  prompted  him  to  revise,  correct, 
and  polish  up  reports  which  should  have  been  verbatim, 


262  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

and  thus  to  take  the  initiative  in  depriving  official  re- 
ports of  debates  of  a  large  share  of  their  value.  Since 
then,  Senators  and  Representatives  address  their  con- 
stituents through  the  reports,  instead  of  debating  ques- 
tions among  themselves. 

The  diplomatic  representative  of  Great  Britain, 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  Jackson  Administration 
was  the  Right  Honorable  Charles  Richard  Vaughan, 
who  was  a  great  favorite  among  Congressmen  and  citi- 
zens at  Washington,  many  of  whom  were  his  guests  at 
the  Decatur  Mansion,  then  the  British  Legation.  He 
was  a  well-educated  and  well-informed  gentleman,  with 
the  courteous  manners  of  the  old  school.  When  re- 
called after  ten  years'  service  at  Washington,  he  was  a 
jovial  bachelor  of  fifty,  fond  of  old  Madeira  wine  and  a 
quiet  rubber  of  whist. 

A  good  story  is  told  of  General  Roger  Weightman, 
when  Mayor  of  the  city,  who  sent  by  mistake  an  invi- 
tation to  Sir  Charles  Vaughan  to  attend  a  Fourth-of- 
July  dinner,  at  which  speeches  were  invariably  made 
abusive  of  the  British  and  their  Vandalism  in  the  recent 
war.  Sir  Charles,  who  was  a  finished  diplomat,  might 
have  construed  the  invitation  into  an  insult,  but  he 
wrote  a  very  polite  response,  saying  that  he  thought  he 
should  be  "  indisposed  "  on  the  Fourth  of  July. 

Russia  was  then  represented  by  the  Baron  de  Krude- 
ner,  who  resided  in  a  large  house  built  by  Thomas 
Swann,  a  wealthy  Baltimorean.  Amicable  relations  with 
"  our  ancient  ally,"  France,  had  been  interrupted  by 
the  brusque  demand  of  General  Jackson  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  indemnity.  Monsieur  Serruvier  was  re- 
called, leaving  the  Legation  in  charge  of  Alphonso 
Pageot,  the  Secretary.  He  also  was  recalled,  but  after 
the  Jackson  Administration  was  sent  back  as  Charge. 


Nursery  Rhymes  in   Congress.  263 

• 
It  was  expected  that  the  session  of  the  Twenty-sixth 

Congress,  which  terminated  on  the  day  of  the  inaugu- 
ration of  General  Harrison,  would  have  been  followed 
by  a  duel  between  Mr.  Edward  Stanly,  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  Mr.  Francis  W.  Pickens,  of  South  Carolina. 
Mr.  Stanley  had  been  criticised  in  debate  by  Mr. 
Pickens,  and  he  retorted  mercilessly.  "  The  gentle- 
man," said  he,  "  compares  my  speech  to  the  attempt  of 
a  '  savage  shooting  at  the  sun.'  It  may  be  so,  sir. 
But  the  Committee  will  remember  that  in  the  remarks 
I  made  I  did  not  address  myself  to  the  gentleman  who 
has  so  unnecessarily  interposed  in  this  debate.  And 
why  did  I  not,  sir  ?  Not  because  I  thought  I  should 
be  as  powerless  as-  he  describes  me,  but  because  I  had 
seen  him  so  often  so  unmercifully  kicked  and  cuffed 
and  knocked  about,  so  often  run  over  on  this  floor, 
that  I  thought  he  was  beneath  my  notice,  and  utterly 
insignificant.  Sir,  the  gentleman  says  he  is  reminded 
by  my  speech  of  the  '  nursery  rhyme,' 

'  Who  shot  Cock  Robin  ? 
"  I,"  said  the  Sparrow, 
"  With  my  bow  and  arrow, 
I  shot  Cock  Robin."  ' 

Well,  sir,  I  am  willing  to  be  the  sparrow  for  this  cock 
robin,  this  chivalrous  gentleman  ;  and  let  me  tell  the 
gentleman,  if  he  will  not  deem  me  vain,  I  feel  fully 
able,  with  my  bow  and  arrow,  to  run  through  a  <  cow- 
pen  full'  of  such  cock  robins  as  he  is.  In  conclusion, 
I  have  only  to  say,  sir,  to  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina,  that  though  my  arm  may  be  *  pigmy,'  though 
I  may  be  but  a  sparrow  in  the  estimation  of  one  '  born 
insensible  to  fear,'  I  am  able,  sir,  anywhere,  as  a  spar- 
row from  North  Carolina,  to  put  down  a  dozen  such 
cock  robins  as  he  is.  *  Come  one,  come  all,'  ye  South 


264 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


Carolina  cock  robins,  if  you  dare ;  I  am  ready  for  you." 
Mr.  Pickens  wrote  a  challenge,  but  friends  interposed, 
and  the  difficulty  was  honorably  arranged. 

When  Mr.  Webster  became  Secretary  of  State,  un- 
der President  Harrison,  his  friends  in  Boston  and  New 
York  raised  a  purse  to  enable  him  to  purchase  the 
Swann  House,  facing  Lafayette  Square.  Mr.  Webster 


MARSHFIELD. 


preferred,  however,  to  purchase  land  at  Marshfield,  and 
after  he  had  occupied  the  house  during  the  negotiation 
of  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  the  property  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Corcoran,  who  has  since  resided 
there. 

Mr.  Webster  was  his  own  purveyor,  and  was  a  regu- 
lar attendant  at  the  Marsh  Market  on  market  morn- 
ings. He  almost  invariably  wore  a  large,  broad- 


Webster's  Hospitality  265 

brimmed,  soft  felt  hat,  with  his  favorite  blue  coat  and 
bright  buttons,  a  buff  cassimere  waistcoat,  and  black 
trousers.  Going  from  stall  to  stall,  followed  by  a  servant 
bearing  a  large  basket  in  which  purchases  were  carried 
home,  he  would  joke  with  the  butchers,  fish-mongers,  and 
green-grocers  with  a  grave  drollery  of  which  his  biog- 
raphers, in  their  anxiety  to  deify  him,  have  made  no 
mention.  He  always  liked  to  have  a  friend  or  two  at 
his  dinner-table,  and  in  inviting  them,  sans  ceremonie, 
he  would  say,  in  his  deep,  cheery  voice,  "  Come  and 
dine  with  me  to-morrow.  I  purchased  a  noble  saddle 
of  Valley  of  Virginia  mutton  in  market  last  week,  and 
I  think  you  will  enjoy  it."  Or,  "  I  received  some  fine 
cod-fish  from  Boston  to-day,  sir;  will  you  dine  with  me 
at  five  o'clock  and  taste  them  ?"  Or,  "  I  found  a  fa- 
mous possum  in  market  this  morning,  sir,  and  left 
orders  with  Monica,  my  cook,  to  have  it  baked  in  the 
real  old  Virginia  style,  with  stuffing  of  chestnuts  and 
surrounded  by  baked  sweet  potatoes.  It  will  be  a  dish 
fit  for  the  gods.  Come  and  taste  it." 

President  Harrison,  who  was  an  early  riser,  used  to 
go  to  market,  and  he  invariably  refused  to  wear  an 
overcoat,  although  the  spring  was  cold  and  stormy. 
One  morning,  having  gone  to  the  market  thus  thinly 
attired,  he  was  overtaken  by  a  slight  shower  and  got 
wet,  but  refused  to  change  his  clothes.  The  following 
day  he  felt  symptoms  of  indisposition,  which  were  fol- 
lowed by  pneumonia.  At  his  Ohio  home  he  had  lived 
plainly  and  enjoyed  sleep,  but  at  Washington  he  had, 
while  rising  early,  rarely  retired  before  one  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  his  physical  powers,  enfeebled  by  age, 
had  been  overtaxed.  At  the  same  time,  the  President's 
mental  powers  had  undergone  a  severe  strain,  as  was 
evident  when  he  became  somewhat  delirious.  Some- 


266  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

times  he  would  say,  "  My  dear  madam,  I  did  not  direct 
that  your  husband  should  be  turned  out.  I  did  not 
know  it.  I  tried  to  prevent  it."  On  other  occasions 
he  would  say,  in  broken  sentences,  "It  is  wrong — I 
won't  consent — 'tis  unjust."  "  These  applications — 
will  they  never  cease  !"  The  last  time  that  he  spoke 
was  about  three  hours  before  his  death,  when  his  phy- 
sicians and  attendants  were  standing  over  him.  Clear- 
ing his  throat,  as  if  desiring  to  speak  audibly,  and  as 
though  he  fancied  himself  addressing  his  successor,  or 
some  official  associate  in  the  Government,  he  said:  uSir, 
I  wish  you  to  understand  the  true  principles  of  the 
Government.  I  wish  them  carried  out.  I  ask  nothing 
more." 

"  One  little  month  "  after  President  Harrison's  in- 
auguration multitudes  again  assembled  to  attend  his 
funeral.  Minute-guns  were  fired  during  the  day,  flags 
were  displayed  at  half  staff,  and  Washington  was 
crowded  with  strangers  at  an  early  hour.  The  build- 
ings on  either  side  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  with 
scarcely  an  exception,  and  many  houses  on  the  contig- 
uous streets,  were  hung  with  festoons  and  streamers  of 
black.  Almost  every  private  dwelling  had  crape  upon 
its  door,  and  many  of  the  very  humblest  abodes  dis- 
played some  spontaneous  signal  of  the  general  sorrow. 
The  stores  and  places  of  business,  even  such  as  were 
too  frequently  seen  open  on  the  Sabbath,  were  all 
closed. 

Funeral  services  were  performed  in  the  Executive 
Mansion,  which,  for  the  first  time,  was  shrouded  in 
mourning.  The  coffin  rested  on  a  temporary  catafalque 
in  the  centre  of  the  Hast  Room.  It  was  covered  with 
black  velvet,  trimmed  with  gold  lace,  and  over  it  was 
thrown  a  velvet  pall  with  a  deep  golden  fringe.  On 


The  Dead  President. 


267 


this  lay  the  sword  of  Justice  and  the  sword  of  State, 
surmounted  by  the  scroll  of  the  Constitution,  bound 
together  by  a  funeral  wreath,  formed  of  the  yew  and 
the  cypress.  Around  the  coffin  stood  in  a  circle  the 
new  President,  John  Tyler,  the  venerable  ex-President, 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Secretary  Webster,  and  the  other 
members  of  the  Cabinet.  The  next  circle  contained 


THE  NATION   IN   MOURNING. 


the  Diplomatic  Corps,  in  their  richly  decorated  court- 
suits,  with  a  number  of  members  of  both  houses  of 
Congress,  and  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  President. 
Beyond  this  circle  a  vast  assemblage  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  filled  up  the  room.  Silence,  deep  and  undis- 
turbed, even  by  a  whisper,  prevailed.  When,  at  the 
appointed  hour,  the  officiating  clergyman  said,  "I  am 
the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  the  entire  audience  rose, 


268  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

and  joined  in  the  burial  service  of  the  Episcopal 
Church. 

After  the  services  the  coffin  was  carried  to  a  large 
funeral  car  drawn  by  six  white  horses,  each  having  at 
its  head  a  black  groom  dressed  in  white,  with  white 
turban  and  sash.  Outside  of  the  grooms  walked  the 
pall-bearers,  dressed  in  black,  with  black  scarves.  The 
contrast  made  by  this  slowly  moving  body  of  white  and 
black,  so  opposite  to  the  strong  colors  of  the  military 
around  it,  struck  the  eye  even  from  the  greatest  dis- 
tance. 

The  funeral  procession,  with  its  military  escort,  was 
two  miles  in  length,  and  eclipsed  the  inauguration 
pageant  which  had  so  recently  preceded  it.  The  re- 
mains were  escorted  to  the  Congressional  Burying- 
Ground,  where  they  were  temporarily  deposited  in  the 
receiving-vault,  to  be  taken  subsequently  to  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio,  and  there  placed  in  an  unmarked  and 
neglected  grave.  The  troops  present  all  fired  three 
volleys  in  such  a  ludicrously  straggling  manner  as  to 
recall  the  dying  request  of  Robert  Burns  that  the 
awkward  squad  might  not  fire  over  his  grave.  Then 
the  drums  and  fifes  struck  up  merry  strains,  the  mili- 
tary marched  away,  and  only  the  scene  of  the  public 
bereavement  remained. 


THOMAS  EWING  was  born  near  West  Liberty,  Virginia,  December  28th,  1789  ;  was  United  States 
Senator  from  Ohio,  December  5th,  1831,  to  March  3d,  1837;  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under 
President  Harrison,  March  5th,  1841,  to  September  I3th,  i84r ;  was  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under 
PresidentTaylor,  March  7th,  1849,  to  Ju'y  25<h»  '850 ;  was  again  Senator  from  Ohio,  July  27th,  1850, 
io  March  sd,  1851,  and  died  at  Lancaster,  Ohio,  October  z6th,  1871. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  KING  IS   DEAD — LONG  LIVE  THE  KING. 

"  LE  ROI  EST  MORT — VIVE  LE  ROl" — EXTRA  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS — 
TROUBLE  IN  THE  WHIG  CAMP — EDWARD  EVERETT  BEFORE  THE  SEN- 
ATE— THURLOW  WEED —DISSENSIONS  AMONG  THE  WHIGS— CABINET 
TROUBLES — CONGRESSIONAL,  CRITICISMS — GUSHING  AND  ADAMS,  OF 
MASSACHUSETTS— WISE,  OF  VIRGINIA— BAGBY,  OF  ALABAMA. 

JOHN  TYLER,  having  found  that  his  position  as 
Vice-President  gave  him  no  voice  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  patronage,  had  retired  in  disgust  to  his 
estate  in  Prince  William  County,  Virginia,  when  Mr. 
Fletcher  Webster  brought  him  a  notification,  from  the 
Secretary  of  State,  to  hasten  to  Washington  to  assume 
the  duties  of  President.  Mr.  Webster  reached  Rich- 
mond on  Sunday — the  day  following  General  Harrison's 
death — chartered  a  steamboat,  and  arrived  at  Mr. 
Tyler's  residence  on  Monday  at  daybreak.  Soon  after- 
ward, Mr.  Tyler,  accompanied  by  his  two  sons,  left  with 
Mr.  Webster,  and  arrived  at  Washington  early  Tuesday 
morning. 

The  Cabinet  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  Mr. 
Tyler  should  be  officially  styled,  "  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States,  acting  President,"  but  he  very 
promptly  determined  that  he  would  enjoy  all  of  the 
dignities  and  honors  of  the  office  which  he  had  inher- 
ited under  the  Constitution.  Chief  Justice  Taney  was 
then  absent,  so  Mr.  Tyler  summoned  Chief  Justice 
Cranch,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Col- 

269 


270 


Per  ley*  s  Reminiscences. 


umbia,  to  his  parlor  at  Brown's  Indian  Queen  Hotel, 
and  took  the  oath  of  office  administered  to  preceding 
Presidents.  The  Cabinet  officers  were  soon  made  to 
understand  that  he  was  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Repub- 


lic, and  the  Whig  magnates  began  to  fear  that  their 
lease  of  power  would  soon  terminate.  In  conversation 
with  Mr.  Nathan  Sargent,  a  prominent  Whig  corres- 
pondent, soon  after  his  arrival,  Mr.  Tyler  significantly 
remarked :  "  If  the  Democrats  and  myself  ever  come 


A  Jolly  Funeral. 


271 


together,  they  must  come  to  me ;  I  shall  never  go  to 
them."  This  showed  that  he  regarded  his  connection 
with  the  Whigs  as  precarious. 

The  extra  session  of  Congress,  which  had  been  con- 
vened by  General  Harrison  before  his  death,  was  not 
acceptable  to  his  successor,  who  saw  that  its  legislation 
would  be  inspired  and  controlled  by  Henry  Clay. 


FUNERAL  OF  THE   SUB-TREASURY. 


When  the  two  houses  were  organized,  he  sent  them  a 
brief  message,  in  which  the  national  bank  question 
was  dexterously  handled,  "  with  the  caution  and  ambig- 
uity of  a  Talleyrand."  Mr.  Clay  lost  no  time  in  pre- 
senting his  programme  for  Congressional  action  ;  and 
in  a  few  days  its  first  feature,  the  repeal  of  the  sub- 
Treasury  Act,  was  enacted.  That  night  a  thousand  or 
more  of  the  jubilant  Washington  Whigs  marched  in 


272  Per  ley*  s  Reminiscences. 

procession  from  Capitol  Hill  to  the  White  House,  with 
torches,  music,  transparencies,  and  fireworks,  escorting 
a  catafalque  on  which  was  a  coffin  labeled,  "  The  sub- 
Treasury."  As  the  procession  moved  slowly  along 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  bonfires  were  kindled  at  the  in- 
tersecting streets,  many  houses  were  illuminated,  and 
there  was  general  rejoicing.  On  the  arrival  of  the 
procession  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  President  Tyler 
came  out  and  made  a  few  remarks,  while  Mr.  Webster 
and  the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  bowed  their 
thanks  for  the  cheers  given  them.  The  hilarious  crowd 
of  mock-mourners  then  repaired  to  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Brown,  at  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  D  Streets,  where 
Mr.  Clay  boarded,  and  received  his  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments for  the  demonstration.  The  next  measure  on 
Mr.  Clay's  programme,  the  bill  for  the  distribution  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  among  the 
States,  was  also  promptly  enacted  and  as  promptly  ap- 
proved by  the  President.  Next  came  the  National 
Bankrupt  Act,  which  was  stoutly  opposed  by  the  Dem- 
ocrats, but  it  finally  passed,  and  was  approved  by  Mr. 
Tyler. 

When  Congress  enacted  a  bill  creating  a  National 
Bank,  however,  and  sent  it  to  the  President  for  his 
approval,  he  returned  it  with  his  veto.  This  created 
much  discontent  among  the  Whigs,  while  the  Demo- 
crats were  so  rejoiced  that  a  considerable  number  of 
their  Congressmen  called  at  the  Executive  Mansion. 
The  President  received  them  cordially,  and  treated 
them  to  champagne,  in  which  toasts  were  drunk  not 
very  complimentary  to  the  Whig  party,  or  to  its  leader, 
Mr.  Clay.  The  Kentucky  Senator  soon  saw  that  it 
was  of  no  use  to  temporize  with  his  vacillating  chief- 
tain, who  evidently  desired  to  become  his  own  sue- 


Clafs  Strategy.  273 

cessor,  so  he  determined  to  force  the  Administration 
into  a  hostile  attitude  toward  the  Whigs,  while  he 
himself  should  step  to  the  front  as  their  recognized 
leader.  Haughty  and  imperious,  Mr.  Clay  was  never- 
theless so  fascinating  in  his  manner  when  he  chose  to 
be  that  he  held  unlimited  control  over  nearly  every 
member  of  the  party.  He  remembered,  too,  that  Tyler 
had  been  nominated  for  Vice-President  in  pursuance 
of  a  bargain  made  by  Clay's  own  friends  in  the  Legis- 
lature of  Virginia,  where  they  had  joined  the  Van 
Buren  members  in  electing  Mr.  Rives  to  the  Senate. 
This  bargain  Mr.  Clay  had  hoped  would  secure  for 
him  the  support  of  the  State  of  Virginia  in  the  nomi- 
nating convention,  and  although  Harrison  received 
the  nomination  for  President,  Clay's  friends  were  none 
the  less  responsible  for  the  nomination  of  Tyler  as 
Vice-President.  He  was  consequently  very  angry 
when  he  learned  what  had  taken  place  at  the  White 
House,  and  he  availed  himself  of  the  first  opportunity 
to  speak  of  the  scene  in  the  Senate,  portraying  the 
principal  personages  present  with  adroit  sarcasm. 

Some  of  his  descriptions  were  life-like,  especially 
that  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  "  tall,  careworn,  with  fevered 
brow,  haggard  cheek,  and  eye  intensely  gazing,  look- 
ing as  if  he  were  dissecting  the  last  and  newest  ab- 
straction which  sprung  from  some  metaphysician's 
brain,  and  muttering  to  himself,  in  half  uttered  words, 
'  This  is  indeed  a  crisis !'  "  The  best  word-portrait, 
however,  was  that  of  Senator  Buchanan,  whose  manner 
and  voice  were  humorously  imitated  while  he  was  de- 
scribed as  presenting  his  Democratic  associates  to  the 
President.  Mr.  Buchanan  pleasantly  retorted,  describ- 
ing in  turn  a  caucus  of  disappointed  Whig  Congress- 
men, who  discussed  whether  it  would  be  best  to  make 
18 


274 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


open  war  upon  "  Captain  Tyler,"  or  to  resort  to  strate- 
gem,  and,  in  the  elegant  language  of  Mr.  Botts,  "  head 
him,  or  die." 

The  mission  to  Great  Britain  had  been  tendered  by 
President  Harrison  to  John  Sargent,  a  distinguished 
Philadelphia  lawyer,  who  had  been  the  candidate  for 
Vice-President  on  the  unsuccessful  Whig  ticket  headed 
by  Henry  Clay  in  1836.  Mr.  Sargent  having  declined, 

President  Harrison 
had  appointed  Edward 
Everett,  of  Massachu- 
setts, who  accepted, 
and  his  name  came 
before  the  Senate  for 
confirmation.  Mr.  Ev- 
erett was  among  the 
most  conservative  of 
New  England  politi 
cians,  but  he  had  once, 
in  reply  to  inquiries 
from  Abolitionists,  ex- 
pressed the  opinion 
that  Congress  had 
power  to  abolish  sla- 
very in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  When  the  nomination  came  before  the  Sen- 
ate, it  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Buchanan  and  Mr.  King,  of 
Alabama,  and  advocated  by  Mr.  Choate  and  Henry  Clay. 
Mr.  King,  who  would  have  received  the  appointment 
had  Mr.  Everett's  rejection  created  a  vacancy,  concluded 
a  bitter  speech  by  saying  that  if  Mr.  Everett,  holding 
views  in  opposition  to  the  South,  was  confirmed,  the 
Union  would  be  dissolved !  Mr.  Clay  sprang  to  his 
feet,  and,  pointing  his  long  arm  and  index  finger  at 


RUFUS  CHOATE. 


Edward  Everett  Indorsed^  275 

Mr.  King,  said :  "  And  I  tell  you,  Mr.  President,  that 
if  a  gentleman  so  pre-eminently  qualified  for  the  posi- 
tion of  Minister  should  be  rejected  by  this  Senate,  and 
for  the  reason  given  by  the  Senator  from  Alabama, 
this  Union  is  dissolved  already." 

The  nomination  of  Mr.  Everett  was  confirmed  by  a 
vote  of  twenty-three  to  nineteen.  Every  Democrat 
who  voted,  and  two  Southern  Whigs,  voted  against 
him,  and  several  Northern  Democrats  dodged,  among 
them  Pierce,  of  New  Hampshire,  Williams,  of  Maine, 
and  Wright,  of  New  York.  The  Southern  Whigs  who 
stood  their  ground  for  Mr.  Everett  were  Clay,  More- 
head,  Berrien,  Clayton,  Mangum,  Merrick,  Graham, 
and  Rives, 

A  second  fiscal  agent  bill  was  prepared  in  accordance 
with  the  President's  expressed  views,  and  he  said  to 
Mr.  A.  H.  H.  Stuart,  then  a  Representative  from  Vir- 
ginia, holding  him  by  the  hand :  "  Stuart,  if  you  can 
be  instrumental  in  getting  this  bill  through  Congress, 
I  shall  esteem  you  as  the  best  friend  I  have  on  earth." 
An  attempt  was  made  in  the  Senate  to  amend  it,  which 
Mr.  Choate,  who  was  regarded  as  the  mouth-piece  of 
Daniel  Webster,  opposed.  Mr.  Clay  endeavored  to 
make  him  admit  that  some  member  of  the  Administra- 
tion had  inspired  him  to  assert  that  if  the  bill  was 
amended  it  would  be  vetoed,  but  Mr.  Choate  had  ex- 
amined too  many  witnesses  to  be  forced  into  any  ad- 
mission that  he  did  not  choose  to  make.  Persisting  in 
his  demand,  Mr.  Clay's  manner  and  language  became 
offensive.  "  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Choate,  "  I  insist  on  my 
right  to  explain  what  I  did  say  in  my  own  words." 

"  But  I  want  a  direct  answer,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Clay. 
"  Mr.  President,"  said  Mr.  Choate,  "  the  gentleman  will 
have  to  take  my  answer  as  I  choose  to  give  it  to  him." 


276  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

Here  the  two  Senators  were  called  to  order,  and  both 
of  them  were  requested  to  take  their  seats.  The  next 
day  Mr.  Clay  made  an  explanation,  which  was  satis- 
factory to  Mr.  Choate. 

This  second  bank  or  fiscal  agent  bill  was  passed  by 
Congress  without  the  change  of  a  word  or  a  letter,  yet 
the  President  vetoed  it.  When  the  veto  message  was 
received  in  the  Senate  there  were  some  hisses  in  the 
gallery,  which  brought  Mr.  Benton  to  his  feet.  Ex- 
pressing his  indignation,  he  asked  that  the  "  ruffians  " 
be  taken  into  custody,  and  one  of  those  who  had  hissed 
was  arrested,  but,  on  penitently  expressing  his  regret, 
he  was  discharged.  Tyler's  Cabinet  first  learned  that 
he  intended  to  veto  this  bank  bill  through  the  columns 
of  a  New  York  paper,  and  such  was  their  indignation 
that  all,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Webster,  resigned. " 
Mr.  Bwing,  who  had  been  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  by  President  Harrison,  and  who  had  been 
continued  in  office  by  Mr.  Tyler,  published  his  letter 
of  resignation,  which  gave  all  the  facts  in  the  case. 
The  Whig  Senators  and  Representatives  immediately 
met  in  caucus  and  adopted  an  address  to  the  people. 
It  was  written  by  Mr.  John  P.  Kennedy,  of  Maryland, 
and  it  set  forth  in  temperate  language  the  differences 
between  them  and  the  President,  his  equivocations  and 
tergiversations,  and  in  conclusion  they  repudiated  the 
Administration. 

Caleb  Gushing,  of  Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  then 
serving  his  fourth  term  in  the  House,  espoused  the 
cause  of  President  Tyler,  and  boldly  opposed  the  in- 
tolerant action  of  his  Whig  associates.  Years  after- 
ward Franklin  Pierce  told  his  most  intimate  friend, 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  that  Caleb  Gushing  had  such 
mental  variety  and  activity  that  he  could  not,  if  left 


Cushing^s  Characteristics. 


277 


to  himself,  keep  hold  of  one  view  of  things,  bnt  needed 
the  influence  of  a  more  stable  judgment  to  keep  him 
from  divergency.  His  fickleness  was  intellectual,  not 
moral.  Mr.  Gushing  was  at  that  time  forty-one  years 
of  age,  of  medium  height,  with  intellectual  features, 
quick-glancing  dark  eyes,  and  an  unmusical  voice. 
He  spoke  with  ease  and  fluency,  but  his  speeches  read 
better  than  they  sounded.  His  knowledge  was  vast 
and  various,  and  his  style, 
tempered  by  foreign  trav- 
el, was  classical.  He  had 
mastered  history,  politics, 
law,  jurisprudence,  moral 
science,  and  almost  every 
other  branch  of  knowl- 
edge, which  enabled  him 
to  display  an  erudition  as 
marvelous  in  amount  as 
as  it  was  varied  in  kind. 

The  Southern  Repre- 
sentatives, who  had  re- 
garded Mr.  Gushing  with 
some  apprehension  as  a 
possible  leader  of  the  com- 
ing struggle  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  were  well  pleased  when  they  saw  him 
breaking  away  from  his  Northern  friends.  When  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  depose  John  Quincy  Adams  from 
the  Chairmanship  of  the  House  Committee  on  Foreign 
Affairs,  because  he  had  stood  up  manfully  for  the  right 
of  petition,  the  irate  ex-President  asserted  in  the  House 
that  the  position  had  been  offered  to  Mr.  Gushing,  who 
was  also  a  member.  This  Mr.  Gushing  denied,  but 
Mr.  Adams,  his  bald  head  turning  scarlet,  exclaimed  : 


CALEB  GUSHING. 


278  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

"  I  had  the  information  from  the  gentleman  him- 
self." 

In  this  debate,  Mr.  Adams  went  at  some  length  into 
the  history  of  his  past  life,  his  intercourse  and  friend- 
ship with  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Mon- 
roe, during  their  successive  Presidential  terms.  He 
spoke  of  their  confidence  in  himself,  as  manifested  by 
the  various  important  offices  conferred  upon  him,  allud- 
ing to  important  historical  facts  in  this  connection. 
He  knew  that  they  all  abhorred  slavery,  and  he  could 
prove  it,  if  it  ware  desired,  from  the  testimony  of  Jef- 
ferson, Madison,  and  Washington  themselves.  There 
was  not  an  Abolitionist  of  the  wildest  character,  the  ex- 
President  affirmed,  but  might  find  in  the  writings  of  Jef- 
ferson, at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  during  his  whole  life,  down  to  its  very  last  year,  a 
justification  for  everything  their  party  says  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery,  and  a  description  of  the  horrors  of 
slavery  greater  than  they  had  power  to  express. 

Henry  A.  Wise  had  been  Mr.  Clay's  instrument  in 
securing  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Tyler  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  and  was  the  most  influential  adviser  at  the  White 
House.  He  was  then  in  the  prime  of  his  early  man- 
hood, tall,  spare,  and  upright,  with  large,  lustreless, 
gray-blue  eyes,  high  cheek  bones,  a  large  mouth,  a 
complexion  saffron-hued,  from  his  inordinate  use  of 
tobacco,  and  coarse,  long  hair,  brushed  back  from  his 
low  forehead.  He  was  brilliant  in  conversation,  and 
when  he  addressed  an  audience  he  was  the  incarnation 
of  effective  eloquence.  No  one  has  ever  poured  forth 
in  the  Capitol  of  the  United  States  such  torrents  of 
words,  such  erratic  flights  of  fancy,  such  blasting  in- 
sinuations, such  solemn  prayers,  such  blasphemous 
imprecations.  Like  Jeremiah  of  old,  he  felt  the  dark 


Wise  at  Work. 


279 


shadow  of  coming  events  ;  and  he  regarded  the  Yan- 
kees as  the  inevitable  foes  of  the  old  Commonwealth  of 
Virginia.  He  had  hoped  that  the  caucus  of  Whig 
Representatives,  at  the  commencement  of  the  session, 
would  have  nominated  him  for  Speaker.  But  John 
White,  of  Kentucky,  had  received  the  nomination,  Mr. 
Clay  having  urged  his  friends  to  vote  for  him,  and  Mr. 
Wise,  goaded  on  by  disappointed  ambition,  sought  re- 
venge by  endeavoring 
to  destroy  the  Whig 
party.  He  hoped  to 
build  on  its  ruins  a 
new  political  organi- 
zation composed  of 
Whigs  and  of  such 
Democrats  as  might 
be  induced  to  enlist 
under  the  Tyler  ban- 
ner by  a  lavish  distri- 
bution of  the  " loaves 
and  fishes."  Presi- 
dent Tyler's  vanity 
made  it  easy  to  secure 
him  as  a  figure-head, 
and  it  was  an  easy  task 
to  array  him  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Clay  Whigs, 
when  John  M.  Botts  wrote  an  insulting  letter,  in  which 
he  recommended  his  political  associates  to  "  head  Cap- 
tain Tyler,  or  die." 

As  the  close  of  the  extra  session  approached,  the 
breach  between  President  Tyler  and  the  Whig  party 
was  widened,  and  those  who  had  elected  him  saw  their 
hopes  blasted,  and  the  labors  of  the  campaign  lost,  by 
his  ambitious  perfidy.  Nearly  all  of  his  nominations 


HENRY  A.  WISE. 


280  Per 'ley *s  Reminiscences. 

for  office  were  promptly  rejected,  and  those  who  for 
place  had  espoused  his  cause  found  themselves  disap- 
pointed. A  few  days  before  the  final  adjournment,  it 
was  announced  that  Senator  Bagby ,  of  Alabama,  would 
the  next  afternoon  expose  the  shortcomings  of  the 
Whig  party.  He  was  a  type  of  the  old-school  Virginia 
lawyers,  who  had  removed  to  the  Gulf  States,  and  there 
acquired  political  position  and  fortune.  He  was  a  large 
man,  with  a  bald  head,  a  strong  voice,  and  a  watch-seal 
dangling  from  his  waistband. 

The  "  Corporal's  Guard "  who  sustained  Mr.  Tyler 
were  all  on  hand  and  prominently  seated  to  hear  him 
abuse  the  Whigs,  .and  they  evidently  had  great  expec- 
tations that  he  might  eulogize  the  President.  Upshur, 
Gushing,  Wise,  Gilmer,  with  the  President's  sons, 
Robert  and  John,  were  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  and 
they  were  evidently  delighted  as  the  eloquent  Alabam- 
ian  handled  the  Whig  party  without  gloves.  He  under- 
took to  show  that  they  were  for  and  against  a  National 
Bank,  in  favor  of  and  opposed  to  a  tariff,  pro-slavery 
and  anti-slavery,  according  to  their  location,  but  all 
united  by  a  desire  to  secure  the  Federal  offices. 

Proceeding  in  a  strain  of  fervid  eloquence,  he  all  at 
once  turned  toward  Senator  Smith,  of  Indiana,  who 
was  sitting  in  front  of  him,  and  asked,  in  stentorian 
tones:  u  Why  don't  you  Whigs  keep  your  promises  to 
the  American  people?  I  pause  for  an  answer?"  Mr. 
Smith  promptly  replied :  "  Because  your  President 
won't  let  us."  Mr.  Bagby  stood  still  for  a  moment, 
and  then  contemptuously  exclaimed  :  "  Our  President ! 
OUR  President !  Do  you  think  we  would  go  to  the  most 
corrupt  party  that  was  ever  formed  in  the  United  States, 
and  then  take  for  our  President  the  meanest  renegade 
that  ever  left  that  party  ?"  He  then  went  on  to  casti- 


Tyler* s  Enjoyments.  281 

gate  Mr.  Tyler,  while  the  "  Corporal's  Guard,"  sadly 
disappointed,  one  by  one,  "  silently  stole  away,"  and  had 
no  more  faith  in  Mr.  Bagby. 

Junius  Brutus  Booth  still  continued  to  be  the  leading 
star  at  the  Washington  Theatre,  and  President  Tyler 
used  often  to  enjoy  his  marvelous  renderings,  especially 
his  "  Sir  Giles  Overreach,"  "  King  Lear,"  "  Shylock," 
"  Othello,"  and  "  Richard  the  Third."  Booth,  at  this 
time,  was  more  than  ever  a  slave  to  intoxicating  drink, 
so  much  so  that  he  would  often  disappoint  his  audi- 
ences, sometimes  wholly  failing  to  appear,  yet  his  popu- 
larity remained  unabated. 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE  was  born  at  Hillsborough,  New  Hampshire,  November  23d,  1804  ;  was  a  Rep- 
resentative from  New  Hampshire,  December  ad,  1833,  to  March  3d,  1837;  was  United  States  Sena- 
tor from  New  Hampshire,  September  4th,  1837-1842,  when  he  resigned;  declined  the  position  of 
Attorney-General,  offered  him  by  President  Polk  in  1846;  served  in  the  Mexican  War  as  brigadier- 
general  ;  was  President  of  the  United  States,  March  4th,  1853,  to  March  3d,  1857,  and  died  at  Con- 
cord, New  Hampshire,  October  8th,  1860. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

DIPLOMATIC  AND    SOCIAL    LI^E  OF    WEBSTER. 

THE;  ASHBURTON  TREATY— DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS— SPEECH  BY 
DANIEL  WEBSTER — WEBSTER'S  SOCIAL  LIFE— MR.  CLAY'S  NIGHTCAPS 
—ADMINISTRATION  ORGANS  -JUSTICE  TO  JOHN  TYLER. 

MR.  WEBSTER'S  great  work  as  Secretary  of 
State — indeed,  he  regarded  it  as  the  greatest 
achievement  of  his  life— was  the  negotiation 
of  a  treaty  with  Great  Britain  adjusting  all  existing 
controversies.  To  secure  this  had  prompted  Mr. 
Webster  to  enter  the  Cabinet  of  General  Harrison, 
and  when  Mr.  Tyler  became  President  Mr.  Webster 
pledged  himself  to  his  wealthy  friends  in  Boston  and 
New  York  not  to  resign  until  the  troubles  with  the 
mother  country  had  been  amicably  adjusted.  His 
position  soon  became  very  unpleasant.  On  the  one 
hand  President  Tyler,  whose  great  desire  was  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  wanted  him  to  resign ;  on  the 
other  hand,  many  influential  Whigs  began  to  regard 
him  with  distrust  for  remaining  in  the  enemy's  camp. 
But  Mr.  Webster  kept  on,  regardless  of  what  was  said 
by  friend  or  foe. 

The  appointment  of  Lord  Ashburton  to  represent 
the  British  Government  was  especially  gratifying  to 
Mr.  Webster,  who  had  become  personally  acquainted 
with  him  when  he  visited  England  in  1839.  Lord 
Ashburton's  family  name  was  Alex.  Baring.  He  had 
282 


Twice  Married. 


283 


visited   Philadelphia   when    it   was    the    seat    of    the 

Federal    Government     as    the    representative   of    his 

father's  banking   house.     Among  those    to  whom   he 

had  letters  of  introduction  was  Mr.  William  Bingham, 

a  wealthy  merchant  and  United  States  Senator,  who 

lived  in  great  style.     Miss  Maria   Matilda   Bingham, 

the    Senator's    only   daughter,    who   was   but   sixteen 

years  of  age,  had  just  been  persuaded  by  the  Count 

de  Tilly,  a  profligate 

French  nobleman,  to 

elope  with  him.    They 

were  married,  but  the 

Count  soon  intimated 

that  he   did  not  care 

for  the  girl  if  he  could 

obtain    some    of    her 

prospective       fortune. 

He    finally    accepted 

five  thousand  pounds 

in  cash  and  an  annuity 

of  six  hundred  pounds, 

and   left    for    France. 

A  divorce  was  obtained,  • 

and  Senator  Bingham 

was  well  pleased  soon 

afterward   when   young   Mr.   Baring  wooed   and   won 

his  daughter.     With  the  fortune  her  father  gave  her 

he   was    enabled    on    his    return   to   London    to    enter 

the   House  of  Baring  Brothers    as  a  partner,  and  on 

retiring  from  business  in  1835  ne  was  created  a  Baron, 

with  the  title  of  Lord  Ashburton.     When  appointed  on 

a  special  mission  to  Washington  Lord  Ashburton  wrote 

to  Mr.  Webster,  asking  him  to  rent  a  suitable  house 

for   the   accommodation   of    himself    and   suite.     Mr. 


ORIGINAL  SEAT  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT. 
(Old  State-House,   Philadelphia.) 


284 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


Webster  accordingly  rented  the  spacious  and  thor- 
oughly equipped  mansion  erected  by  Matthew  St.  Clair 
Clarke,  Clerk  of  the  House,  in  his  prosperous  days. 
The  price  paid  was  twelve  thousand  dollars  rent  for 
ten  months,  and  an  additional  thousand  dollars  for 
damages. 

Mr.  Webster,  who  had  received  full  powers  from  Presi- 
dent Tyler  to  conduct  the  negotiations  on  the  part  of 

the  United  States,  oc- 
cupied the  Swann 
House,  near  that  oc- 
cupied by  Lord  Ash- 
burton.  Much  of  the 
preliminary  negotia- 
tion was  carried  on  at 
the  dinner- tables  of 
the  contracting  par- 
ties, and  Congres- 
sional guests  were 
alike  charmed  by  the 
hospitable  attentions 
of  the  "  fine  old  Eng- 
lish gentleman  "  and 
the  Yankee  Secretary 
of  State.  Lord  Ash- 
burton  offered  his  guests  the  cream  of  culinary  perfec- 
tion and  the  gastronomic  art,  with  the  rarest  wines, 
while  at  Mr.  Webster's  table  American  delicacies  were 
served  in  American  style.  Maine  salmon,  Massachu- 
setts mackerel,  New  Jersey  oysters,  Florida  shad, 
Kentucky  beef,  West  Virginia  mutton,  Illinois  prairie 
chickens,  Virginia  terrapin,  Maryland  crabs,  Delaware 
canvas-back  ducks,  and  South  Carolina  rice-birds  were 
cooked  by  Monica,  and  served  in  a  style  that  made  the 


THE  SWANN  HOUSE. 


The  Ashburton   Treaty.  285 

banker  diplomat  admit  their  superiority  to  the  potages, 
sauces,  entremets,  ragouts,  and  desserts  of  his  Parisian 
white-capped  manipulator  of  casse-roles. 

Lord  Ashburton  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches  in 
height,  and  was  heavily  built,  as  Mr.  Webster  was.  .  He 
had  a  large  head,  a  high  forehead,  dark  eyes,  with 
heavy  eyebrows,  and  a  clear  red  and  white  complexion. 
His  principal  secretary  and  adviser  was  Mr.  Frederick 
William  Adolphus  Bruce,  then  in  the  Foreign  Office, 
who,  after  a  brilliant  diplomatic  career,  was  appointed 
a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath,  and  came  again  to 
Washington  in  1865  as  the  British  Minister.  Another 
secretary  was  Mr.  Stepping,  a  fair-complexioned  little 
gentleman,  who  was  a  great  wit,  and  who  made  a  deal 
of  sport  for  the  Congressional  guests. 

The  treaty,  as  finally  agreed  upon,  settled  a  vexatious 
quarrel  over  our  Northeastern  boundary,  it  overthrew 
the  British  claim  to  exercise  the  right  of  search,  and  it 
established  the  right  of  property  in  slaves  on  an  Ameri- 
can vessel  driven  by  stress  of  weather  into  a  British 
port.  But  the  treaty  did  not  settle  the  exasperating 
controversy  over  the  fisheries  on  the  North  Atlantic 
coast  or  the  disputed  Northwestern  boundary.  When 
the  treaty  finally  reached  the  Senate,  it  was  debated  for 
several  weeks  in  executive  session,  Mr.  Benton  leading 
a  strong  opposition  to  it.  Near  the  close  of  the  debate 
Mr.  Calhoun  made  a  strong  speech  in  favor  of  ratifica- 
tion, in  which  he  praised  both  Lord  Ashburton  and 
Mr.  Webster.  This  speech  secured  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty. 

Having  concluded  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  Mr.  Web- 
ster started  for  New  England  to  enjoy. the  rural  life  so 
dear  to  him  on  his  farm  at  Franklin,  New  Hampshire, 
and  at  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  He  announced,  be- 


286 


Reminiscences. 


fore  he  left  Washington,  that  on  his  arrival  at  Boston 
he  should  address  his  friends  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and 
there  was  an  intense  desire  to  hear  what  he  might  have 
to  say  on  public  affairs.  The  leaders  of  the  Whig 
party  hoped  that  he  would  announce  a  resignation  of 
his  office  as  Secretary  of  State,  denounce  the  duplicity 
of  President  Tyler,  and  come  gracefully  to  the  sup- 
port of  Henry  Clay,  who  had  imperiously  demanded 

the  Presidential  nomi- 
nation. But  Mr.  Web- 
ster declined  to  accept 
the  advice  given  him, 
and  spoke  his  mind 
very  freely  and  frankly. 
There  was — said  one 
who  heard  the  speech — 
no  sly  insinuation  or  in- 
nuendo, but  a  straight- 
forward, independent 
expression  of  truth,  a 
copious  outpouring  of 
keen  reproof,  solemn 
admonition,  and  earnest 
entreaty. 

Among  those  former 
home-friends  whose  behavior  was  very  annoying  to 
Mr.  Webster  at  this  time  was  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence, 
a  Boston  merchant,  who,  having  amassed  a  large  for- 
tune, coveted  political  honors,  and  was  a  liberal  con- 
tributor to  the  campaign  fund  of  his  party.  Astute 
and  observing,  he  imagined  himself  a  representative 
of  the  merchant-princes  of  Venice  under  the  Doges 
and  England  under  the  Plantagenets,  and  he  spoke 
in  a  measured,  stately  tone,  advancing  his  ideas  with 


ABBOTT   LAWRENCE. 


Webster  at  Marshfield. 


287 


a  positiveness  that  would  not  brook  contradiction.  On 
several  occasions  he  had  been  one  of  "  the  solid  men 
of  Boston  "  who  had  contributed  considerable  sums  for 
the  pecuniary  relief  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  this  embol- 
dened him  to  assume  a  dictatorial  tone  in  advising  the 
Secretary  of  State  to  resign  after  the  Ashburton  Treaty 
had  been  negotiated.  The  command  was  treated  with 
sovereign  contempt,  and  thenceforth  Mr.  Lawrence 
looked  upon  Mr.  Web- 
ster as  ungrateful,  and 
as  standing  in  the 
way  of  his  own  politi- 
cal advancement.  But 
Mr.  Webster  defied  the 
would-be  cotton-lord, 
saying :  "  I  am  a 
Whig — aFaneuil  Hall 
Whig — and  if  any  one 
undertakes  to  turn  me 
out  of  that  commun- 
ion, let  him  see  to  it 
who  gets  out  first." 

While  Mr.  Webster 
had  been  negotiating 
the  Ashburton  Treaty, 
and  after  he  had  found  rest  at  Marshfield,  he  dis- 
played the  same  sprightly  humor  and  tender  sweet- 
ness which  so  endeared  him  to  those  who  were  per- 
mitted to  enjoy  intimate  social  relations  with  him. 
He  always  rose  with  the  sun,  visiting  his  farm-yards  at 
Marshfield.  and  going  to  market  at  Washington,  before 
breakfast,  with  a  visit  at  either  place  to  the  kitchen, 
where  he  would  gravely  discuss  the  culinary  pro- 
gramme of  the  day  with  Monica,  a  cook  of  African  de- 


WEBSTER'S  AFRICAN  COOK. 


288  Perlefs  Reminiscences. 

scent,  whose  freedom  lie  had  purchased.  After  break- 
fast, he  would  study  or  write  or  fish  all  day,  dressing 
for  a  late  dinner,  after  which  he  gave  himself  up  to  re- 
creation ;  sometimes,  as  Colonel  Seaton's  daughter  has 
pleasantly  told  us,  singing  hymns  or  songs,  generally 
impartially  to  the  same  tune  ;  or  gravely  essaying  the 
steps  of  a  minuet  de  la  cour,  which  he  had  seen  danced 
in  the  courtly  Madisonian  era  ;  or  joining  in  the  jests 
of  the  gay  circle,  his  magnificent  teeth  gleaming,  his 
great,  living  coals  of  eyes — "  sleeping  furnaces,1'  Car- 
lyle  called  them — soft  as  a  woman's  ;  or  his  rare,  ten- 
der smile  lighting  up  the  dusky  grandeur  of  his  face. 
Mr.  Webster  was  not,  at  that  period  of  his  life,  an  in- 
temperate drinker,  although,  like  many  other  gentle- 
men of  that  day,  he  often  imbibed  too,  freely  at  the 
dinneV-table. 

An  amusing  account  has  been  given  of  an  after-din- 
ner speech  by  Mr.  Webster  at  a  gathering  of  his  politi- 
cal friends,  when  he  had  to  be  prompted  by  a  friend 
who  sat  just  behind  him,  and  gave  him  successively 
phrases  and  topics.  The  speech  proceeded  somewhat 
after  this  fashion :  Prompter  :  "  Tariff."  Webster : 
"  The  tariff,  gentlemen,  is  a  subject  requiring  the  pro- 
found attention  of  the  statesman.  American  industry, 
gentlemen,  must  be — "  (nods  a  little).  Prompter: 
"  National  Debt."  Webster  :  "And,  gentlemen,  there's 
the  national  debt — it  should  be  paid  (loud  cheers, 
which  rouse  the  speaker)  ;  yes,  gentlemen,  it  should  be 
paid  (cheers),  and  I'll  be  hanged  if  it  sha'n't  be — (tak- 
ing out  his  pocket-book) — I'll  pay  it  myself!  How 
much  is  it  ?"  This  last  question  was  asked  of  a  gentle- 
man near  him  with  drunken  seriousness,  and,  coupled 
with  the  recollection  of  the  well-known  impecuniosity 
of  Webster's  pocket-book  it  excited  roars  of  laughter, 


Wit  Among  the   Whigs.  289 

amidst  which  the  orator  sank  into  his  seat  and  was 
soon  asleep. 

Prominent  among  the  Whig  Senators  was  Nathan  F. 
Dixon,  of  Westerly,  Rhode  Island.  He  was  one  of  the 
old  school  of  political  gentlemen.  His  snow-white  hair 
was  tied  in  a  long  queue,  he  hafl  a  high  forehead, 
aquiline  nose,  wide  mouth,  and  dark  eyes,  which 
gleamed  through  his  glasses.  Respecting  the  body  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  he  used  to  appear  in  a  black 
coat  and  knee-breeches,  with  a  ruffled  shirt,  white  waist- 
coat, and  white  silk  stockings.  He  was  the  Chairman 
of  the  Whig  Senatorial  caucus,  and  on  the  last  night 
of  the  extra  session  Mr.  Clay  had  complimented  him, 
in  rather  equivocal  language,  on  the  ability  with  which 
he  had  presided.  When  the  laughter  had  subsided, 
Senator  Dixon  rose,  and  with  inimitable  humor  thanked 
the  Senator  from  Kentucky.  "  I  am  aware,"  said  he, 
"  that  I  never  had  but  one  equal  as  a  presiding  officer, 
and  that  was  the  Senator  from  Kentucky.  Some  of 
you  may  have  thought  that  he  was  not  in  earnest,  but 
did  you  know  him  as  well  as  I  do,  you  would  credit  any 
remark  he  may  make  before  ten  o'clock  at  night — after 
that,  owing  to  the  strength  of  his  night-caps,  there  may 
be  doubts."  Roars  of  laughter  followed,  and  the  Sen- 
ate caucus  adjourned,  as  the  Senate  had  done,  sine  die. 

President  Tyler  had  great  faith  in  the  power  of  the 
newspaper  press,  and  he  secured,  at  an  early  period  of 
his  Administration,  by  a  lavish  distribution  of  the 
advertising  patronage  of  the  Executive  Departments, 
an  "  organ  "  in  nearly  every  State.  The  journals  thus 
recompensed  for  their  support  of  the  Administration 
were  generally  without  political  influence,  but  Mr. 
Tyler  prized  their  support,  and  personally  looked  after 
their  interests.  Alluding  to  them  in  a  letter  to  a 

19 


290  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

friend,  he  said  :  "  Their  motives  may  be  selfish,  but  if  I 
reject  them  for  that,  who  among  the  great  mass  of  office- 
holders can  be  trusted  ?  They  give  one  all  the  aid  in 
their  power,  and  I  do  not  stop  to  inquire  into  motives." 
In  another  letter  he  complains  of  an  official  at  New 
Orleans,  saying:  "I  have  felt  no  little  surprise  at  the 
fact  that  he  should  have  thrown  into  the  Bee  [a  most 
abusive  paper]  advertisements  of  great  value,  and  re- 
fused to  give  them  to  the  Republican,  a  paper  zealous 
and  able  in  the  cause  of  the  Administration."  The 
central  "  organ,"  from  which  the  others  were  to  take 
their  cues,  was  the  Madisonian,  originally  established 
by  Thomas  Allen.  He  disposed  of  it  after  he  married 
the  handsome  and  wealthy  Miss  Russell,  of  Missouri, 
whose  tiara  and  necklace  of  diamonds  had  been  the 
envy  of  all  the  ladies  at  Washington.  John  B.  Johnson, 
the  author  of  Wild  Western  Scenes,  then  became  the 
editor,  and  wrote  ponderous  editorials  advocating 
"Justice  to  John  Tyler,"  which  the  minor  organs  all 
over  the  country  were  expected  to  copy. 


RUFUS  CHOATK  was  born  at  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  October  ist,  1799  ;  was  a  Representative  in 
Congress  from  Massachusetts,  1831-1834  ;  was  United  States  Senator,  1841-1845,  and  died  at  Halifax, 
Nova  Scotia,  July  I3th,  1859. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  CAPITOL  AND   THE   DRAWING-ROOMS. 

A  STORMY  SESSION — JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  AT  BAY — THE  CODE  OP  HONOR 
— THE  SUPREME  COURT — VISIT  OP  CHARLES  DICKENS— THE  SECRETARY 
O"P  STATE'S  PARTY — A  RECEPTION  AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE — THE  PRESI- 
DENT'S BALL  FOR  CHILDREN— DIPLOMATIC  HOSPITALITY — OLE  BULL 
— A  TROUBLESOME  CONGRESSMAN. 

WHEN  the  Twenty-seventh  Congress  met  in 
December,  1841,  it  was  evident  that  there 
could  be  no  harmonious  action  between 
that  body  and  the  President,  but  he  was  not  disposed 
to  succumb.  Writing  to  a  friend,  he  said  the  coming 
session  was  "  likely  to  prove  as  turbulent  and  fractious 
as  any  since  the  days  of  Adam.  But  [he  added]  I 
have  a  firm  grip  on  the  reins."  In  this  he  was  mis- 
taken, or,  rather,  he  had  been  deceived  by  the  syco- 
phants around  him.  Neither  House  paid  any  attention 
to  the  recommendations  which  he  made  in  his  mes- 
sages, and  only  a  few  of  his  nominations  were  con- 
firmed. The  Whigs,  who  had  elected  the  President, 
repudiated  all  responsibility  for  his  acts  and  treated 
him  as  a  traitor,  and  the  Democrats,  while  they  ac- 
cepted offices  from  him,  generally  spoke  of  him  with 
contempt. 

The  Senate  contained  at  that  time  many  able  men. 
Henry  Clay  was  in  the  pride  of  his  political  power, 
but  uneasy  and  restive  as  a  caged  lion.  John  C.  Cal- 
houn  was  in  the  full  glory  of  his  intellectual  magnifi- 

291 


292 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


cence  and  purity  of  personal  character.  Preston's 
flexible  voice  and  graceful  gestures  invested  his  elo- 
quence with  resistless  effect  over  those  whom  it  was 
intended  to  persuade,  to  encourage,  or  to  control.  Bar- 
row, of  Louisiana,  the  handsomest  man  in  the  Senate, 
spoke  with  great  effect,  Phelps,  of  Vermont,  was  a 
somewhat  eccentric  yet  forcible  debater.  Silas  Wright, 

Levi  Woodbury, 
and  Robert  J, 
Walker  were  la- 
boring for  the  res- 
toration of  the 
Democrats  to 
power.  Benton 
stood  sturdily, 
like  a  gnarled  oak 
tree,  defying  all 
who  offered  to  op- 
pose him.  Allen, 
whose  loud  voice 
had  gained  for 
him  the  appella- 
tion of  "the  Ohio 
gong,"  spoke  with 
his  usual  vehe- 
mence. Franklin 
Pierce  was  demonstrating  his  devotion  to  the  slave- 
power,  while  Rufus  Choate  poured  forth  his  wealth  of 
words  in  debate,  his  dark  complexion  corrugated  by 
swollen  veins,  and  his  great,  sorrowful  eyes  gazing 
earnestly  at  his  listeners.  Wendell  Phillips  once  said 
of  Mr.  Choate  that  he  was  "  the  man  who  made  it  safe 
to  murder,  and  of  whose  health  thieves  asked  before 
they  began  to  steal."  It  may  have  been  that  in 


LEVI  WOODBURY. 


Choate's  Oratory.  293 

the  excitement  of  pleading  before  a  jury  he  may 
have  occasionally  been  carried  beyond  the  depth  of 
logical  argument  which  his  judgment  approved.  But 
in  the  Senate  he  had  no  equal  as  an  orator.  His 
elaborate  and  brilliant  speeches  were  listened  to  with 
earnest  attention  by  the  other  Senators,  who  would 
now  be  convulsed  with  laughter  and  then  flooded  with 
tears. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  there  were  unusu- 
ally brilliant  and  able  men.  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  was 
the  recognized  leader.  Mr.  Fillmore,  of  New  York,  a 
stalwart,  pleasant-featured  man,  with  a  remarkably 
clear-toned  voice,  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Ways  and  Means.  Henry  A.  Wise,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  was  able  to  secure  a  large 
share  of  patronage  for  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard.  George 
N.  Briggs  (afterward  Governor  of  Massachusetts),  who 
was  an  earnest  advocate  of  temperance,  was  Chairman 
of  the  Postal  Committee.  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  who 
was  a  sturdy  opponent  of  slavery  at  that  early  day, 
was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Claims.  John  P". 
Kennedy,  of  Maryland,  an  accomplished  scholar  and 
popular  author,  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Commerce ;  Edward  Stanly,  of  North  Carolina,  was 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs ;  Lev- 
erett  Saltonstall,  of  the  Committee  on  Manufactures ; 
indeed,  there  was  not  a  Committee  of  the  House  that 
did  not  have  a  first-class  man  as  its  chairman. 

But  the  session  soon  became  a  scene  of  sectional 
strife.  Mr.  Adams,  in  offering  his  customary  daily 
budget  of  petitions,  presented  one  from  several  anti- 
slavery  citizens  of  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  praying 
for  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  which  raised  a  tempest. 


294  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

The  Southern  Representatives  met  that  night  in 
caucus,  and  the  next  morning  Mr.  Marshall,  of  Ken- 
tucky, offered  a  series  of  resolutions  deploring  the 
presentation  of  the  obnoxious  petition  and  censuring 
Mr.  Adams  for  having  presented  it.  An  excited  and 
acrimonious  debate,  extending  over  several  days,  fol- 
lowed. The  principal  feature  of  this  exciting  scene 
was  the  venerable  object  of  censure,  then  nearly  four- 
score years  of  age,  his  limbs  trembling  with  palsy,  his 
bald  head  crimson  with  excitement,  and  tears  dropping 
from  his  eyes,  as  he  for  four  days  stood  defying  the 
storm  and  hurling  back  defiantly  the  opprobrium  with 
which  his  adversaries  sought  to  stigmatize  him.  He 
was  animated  by  the  recollection  that  the  slave-power 
had  prevented  the  re-election  of  his  father  and  of  him- 
self to  the  Presidential  chair,  and  he  poured  forth  the 
hoarded  wrath  of  half  a  century.  Lord  Morpeth,  who 
was  then  in  Washington,  and  who  occupied  a  seat  on 
the  floor  of  the  House  near  Mr.  Adams  during  the 
entire  debate,  said  that  "  he  put  one  in  mind  of  a  fine 
old  game-cock,  and  occasionally  showed  great  energy 
and  power  of  sarcasm." 

Mr.  Wise  became  the  prosecutor  of  Mr.  Adams,  and 
asserted  that  both  he  and  his  father  were  in  alliance 
with  Great  Britain  against  the  South.  Mr.  Adams 
replied  with  great  severity,  his  shrill  voice  ringing 
through  the  hall.  "  Four  or  five  years  ago,"  said  he, 
"  there  came  to  this  House  a  man  with  his  hands  and 
face  dripping  with  the  blood  of  murder,  the  blotches 
of  which  are  yet  hanging  upon  him,  and  when  it  was 
proposed  that  he  should  be  tried  by  this  House  for  that 
crime  I  opposed  it."  After  this  allusion  to  the  killing 
of  Mr.  Cilley  in  a  duel,  Mr.  Adams  proceeded  to  casti- 
gate Mr.  Wise  without  mercy. 


An  Affair  of  Honor.  295 

At  the  spring  races,  in  1842,  over  the  Washington 
Course,  Mr.  Stanly,  of  North  Carolina,  accidentally 
rode  so  close  to  the  horse  of  Mr.  Wise  as  to  jostle  that 
gentleman,  who  gave  him  several  blows  with  a  cane. 
Mr.  Stanly  at  once  sent  a  friend  to  Mr.  Wise  with  an 
invitation  to  meet  him  at  Baltimore,  that  they  might 
settle  their  difficulty,  and  then  left  for  that  city.  Mr. 
Wise  remained  in  Washington,  where  he  was  arrested 
the  next  day,  under  the  anti-dueling  law,  and  placed 
tinder  bonds  to  keep  the  peace.  Mr.  Stanly  remained  at 
Baltimore  for  several  days,  expecting  Mr.  Wise.  He 
was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson,  under  whose 
instruction  he  practiced  with  dueling-pistols,  firing  at 
a,  mark.  One  morning  Mr.  Johnson  took  a  pistol  him- 
self and  fired  it,  but  the  ball  rebounded  and  struck  him 
in  the  left  eye,  completely  destroying  it.  Mr.  Stanly 
returned  the  next  day  to  Washington,  where  mutual 
friends  adjusted  the  difficulty  between  Mr.  Wise  and 
himself. 

The  vaulted  arches  of  the  old  Supreme  Court  room 
in  the  basement  of  the  Capitol  (now  the  Law  Library) 
used  to  echo  in  those  days  with  the  eloquence  of  Clay, 
Webster,  Choate,  Sargent,  Binney,  Atherton,  Kennedy, 
Berrien,  Crittenden,  Phelps,  and  other  able  lawyers. 
Their  Honors,  the  Justices,  were  rather  a  jovial  set, 
especially  Judge  Story,  who  used  to  assert  that  every 
man  should  laugh  at  least  an  hour  during  each  day, 
and  who  had  himself  a  great  fund  of  humorous  anec- 
dotes. One  of  them,  that  he  loved  to  tell,  was  of 
Jonathan  Mason,  of  whom  he  always  spoke  in  high 
praise.  It  set  forth  that  at  the  trial  of  a  Methodist 
preacher  for  the  alleged  murder  of  a  young  girl,  the 
evidence  was  entirely  circumstantial,  and  there  was  a 
wide  difference  of  opinion  concerning  his  guilt.  One 


296  Perley's   Reminiscences. 

morning,  just  before  the  opening  of  the  court,  a  brother 
preacher  stepped  up  to  Mason  and  said  :  "  Sir,  I  had  a 
dream  last  night,  in  which  the  angel  Gabriel  appeared 
and  told  me  that  the  prisoner  was  not  guilty."  "  Ah  !" 
replied  Mason,  "  have  him  subpoenaed  immediately.'* 


CHARLES   DICKENS. 


Charles  Dickens  first  visited  Washington  in  1842.  He 
was  then  a  young  man.  The  attentions  showered  upon 
the  great  progenitor  of  Dick  Swiveller  turned  his  head. 
The  most  prominent  men  in  the  country  told  him  how 
they  had  ridden  with  him  in  the  Markis  of  Granby^ 


Webster^s 


297 


with  old  Weller  on  the  box  and  Samivel  on  the  dickey ; 
how  they  had  played  cribbage  with  the  Marchioness 
and  quaffed  the  rosy  with  Dick  Swiveller ;  how  they 
had  known  honest  Tim  Linkwater  and  angelic  Little 
Nell,  ending  with  the  welcome  words  of  Sir  John 
Falstaff,  "  D'ye  think  we  didn't  know  ye  ?  We  knew 
ye  as  well  as  Him  that  made  ye." 

Mr.  Webster  gave  a  party  on  the  night  of  January 
26th,  1842,  which  was 
the  crowning  enter- 
tainment of  the  season. 
Eight  rooms  of  his 
commodious  house 
were  thrown  open  to 
the  guests,  and  were 
most  dazzlingly  light- 
ed. There  had  not 
been  in  Washington 
for  two  Administra- 
tions so  large  and  bril- 
liant an  assemblage  of 
female  beauty  and  po- 
litical rank.  Among 
the  more  distinguished 
guests  were  the  Presi- 
dent, Lord  Morpeth,  Mr.  Fox,  the  British  Minister,  M. 
Bacourt,  the  French  Minister,  Mr.  Bodisco,  the  Russian 
Minister,  and  most  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  attached  to 
the  several  legations,  besides  several  Judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  and  many  members  of  Congress.  The 
honorable  Secretary  received  his  numerous  guests  with 
that  dignity  and  courtesy  which  was  characteristic  of 
him,  and  seemed  to  be  in  excellent  spirits.  There  was 
no  dancing,  nor  even  music.  There  was,  however, 


WASHINGTON  IRVING. 


298  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

plenty  of  lively  conversation,  promenades,  eating  of 
ices,  and  sipping  of  rich  wines,  with  the  usual  spice  of 
flirtation. 

President  Tyler's  last  reception  of  the  season  of  1842, 
on  the  night  of  the  i5th  of  March,  gathered  one  of  the 
greatest  crowds  ever  assembled  in  the  White  House. 
There  was  every  variety  of  the  American  citizen  et 
citoyenne  present — those  of  every  form,  shape,  length, 
breadth,  complexion,  and  dress.  There  were  old  ladies 
decked  in  the  finery  of  their  youthful  days,  and  chil- 
dren in  their  nurses'  arms.  "  Boz  "  was  the  lion  of  the 
evening,  and  he  stood  like  Patience  on  a  monument. 
He  totally  eclipsed  Washington  Irving,  who  was  then 
at  Washington  to  receive  his  instructions  as  Minister 
to  Spain.  The  President's  Cabinet,  Foreign  Ministers, 
some  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  a  sprinkling 
of  Senators,  two  or  three  scores  of  Representatives,  and 
fifteen  hundred  men,  women,  and  children,  in  every 
costume,  and  from  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  coun- 
try, made  up  the  remainder  of  the  medley. 

A  children's  fancy  ball  was  given  at  the  White 
House  by  President  Tyler,  in  honor  of  the  birthday  of 
his  eldest  granddaughter.  Dressed  as  a  fairy,  with 
gossamer  wings,  a  diamond  star  on  her  forehead,  and  a 
silver  wand,  she  received  her  guests.  Prominent  among 
the  young  people  was  the  daughter  of  General  Almonte, 
the  Mexican  Minister,  arrayed  as  an  Aztec  Princess. 
Master  Schermerhorn,  of  New  York,  was  beautifully 
dressed  as  an  Albanian  boy,  and  Ada  Cutts,  as  a  flower- 
girl,  gave  promise  of  the  intelligence  and  beauty  which 
in  later  years  led  captive  the  "  Little  Giant  "  of  the 
West.  The  boys  and  girls  of  Henry  A.  Wise  were 
present,  the  youngest  in  the  arms  of  its  mother,  and 
every  State  in  the  Union  was  represented. 


Baron  Bodisco's  Entertainment. 


299 


After  old  Baron  Bodisco's  marriage  to  the  young  and 
beautiful  Miss  Williams,  the  Russian  Legation  at 
Georgetown  became  the  scene  of  brilliant  weekly  enter- 
tainments, given,  it  was  asserted,  by  especial  direction 


PRESIDENT  TYLER'S 
PARTY   FOR  CHILDREN. 


of  the  Emperor  Nicholas,  who  had  a  special  allowance 
made  for  table-money.  At  these  entertainments  there 
was  dancing,  an  excellent  supper,  and  a  room  devoted 
to  whist.  Mr.  Webster,  Mr.  Clay,  General  Scott,  and 


300  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

several  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  were  invariably  to  be 
seen  handling  "  fifty-two  pieces  of  printed  pasteboard," 
while  the  old  Baron,  though  not  a  good  player,  as  the 
host  of  the  evening,  was  accustomed  to  take  a  hand. 
One  night  he  sat  down  to  play  with  those  better 
acquainted  with  the  game,  and  he  lost  over  a  thousand 
dollars.  At  the  supper-table  he  made  the  following  an- 
nouncement, in  a  sad  tone  :  "  Ladies  and  gentlemens  ! 
It  is  my  disagreeable  duty  to  make  the  announce  that 
these  receptions  must  have  an  end,  and  to  declare  them 
at  an  end  for  the  present,  because  why  ?  The  fund  for 
their  expend,  ladies  and  gentlemens,  is  exhaust,  and 
they  must  discontinue." 

Ole  Bull,  the  renowned  violinist,  then  gave  a  con- 
cert at  Washington,  which  was  largely  and  fashionably 
attended.  In  the  midst  of  one  of  his  most  exquisite 
performances,  while  every  breath  was  suspended,  and 
every  ear  attentive  to  catch  the  sounds  of  his  magical 
instrument,  the  silence  was  suddenly  broken  and  the 
harmony  harshly  interrupted  by  the  well-known  voice 
of  General  Felix  Grundy  McConnell,  a  Representa- 
tive from  the  Talladega  district  of  Alabama,  shouting, 
"  None  of  your  high-falutin,  but  give  us  Hail  Colum- 
bia, and  bear  hard  on  the  treble  !  "  u  Turn  him  out !  " 
was  shouted  from  every  part  of  the  house,  and  the 
police  force  in  attendance  undertook  to  remove  him 
from  the  hall.  "  Mac,"  as  he  was  called,  was  not  only 
one  of  the  handsomest  men  in  Congress,  but  one  of 
the  most  athletic,  and  it  was  a  difficult  task  for  the 
policemen  to  overpower  him,  although  they  used 
their  clubs.  After  he  was  carried  from  the  hall,  some 
of  his  Congressional  friends  interfered,  and  secured  his 
release. 

The  publication  of  verbatim  reports  of  the  proceed- 


OLE  BULL,  THE  FAMOUS  VIOLINIST. 


302  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

ings  of  Congress  was  systematically  begun  during 
Folk's  Administration  by  John  C.  Rives,  in  the  Con- 
gressional Globe,  established  a  few  years  previously  as 
an  offshoot  from  the  old  Democratic  organ.  This  un- 
questionably had  a  disastrous  effect  .upon  the  eloquence 
of  Congress,  which  no  longer  hung  upon  the  accents 
of  its  leading  members,  and  rarely  read  what  appeared 
in  the  report  of  its  debates.  Imitating  Demosthenes 
and  Cicero,  Chatham  and  Burke,  Mirabeau  and  Lamar- 
tine,  the  Congressmen  of  the  first  fifty  years  of  the 
Republic  poured  forth  their  breathing  thoughts  and 
burning  words  in  polished  and  elegant  language,  and 
were  listened  to  by  their  colleagues  and  by  spectators 
so  alive  to  the  beauties  of  eloquence  that  they  were 
entitled  to  the  appellation  of  assemblages  of  trained 
critics.  The  publication  of  verbatim  reports  of  the 
debates  put  an  end  to  this,  for  Senators  and  Represen- 
tatives addressed  their  respective  constituents  through 
the  Congressional  Globe. 


FELIX  GRUNDY  was  born  in  Berkeley  County,  Virginia  (now  West  Virginia),  September  nth,  1777  ; 
-.vas  a  Representative  from  Tennessee,  1811-1814;  was  United  States  Senator,  1829-1838  ;  was  At- 
torney-General under  President  Van  Buren,  1838-1840;  was  again  elected  Senator  in  1840,  and  died 
at  Nashville,  December  igth  of  the  same  year. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

LIGHTS  AND   SHADOWS. 

THE  ACCIDENTAL  PRESIDENT — VIRGINIA  HOSPITALITY — SECOND-HAND 
STYLE — THE  PATHFINDER'S  MARRIAGE — BARON  DE  BODISCO,  OP 
RUSSIA — MR.  POX,  OP  GREAT  BRITAIN — THE  AUTHOR  OP  "  SWEET 
HOME" — THE  DAGUERREOTYPE — THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH — THE 
NEW  YORK  TRIBUNE — RESIGNATION  OP  MR.  WEBSTER — RECONSTRUC- 
TION OP  THE  CABINET — FATAL  ACCIDENT  ON  THE  PRINCETON — MAR- 
RIAGE OP  PRESIDENT  TYLER. 

JOHN  TYLER,  who  was  fifty-one  years  of  age 
when  he  took  possession  of  the  Executive  Man- 
sion, was  somewhat  above  the  medium  height> 
and  of  slender  figure,  with  long  limbs  and  great 
activity  of  movement.  His  thin  auburn  hair  turned 
white  during  his  term  of  office,  his  nose  was  large  and 
prominent,  his  eyes  were  of  a  bluish-gray,  his  lips  were 
thin,  and  his  cheeks  sunken.  His  manners  were  those 
of  the  old  school  of  Virginia  gentlemen,  and  he  was 
very  courteous  to  strangers.  The  ceremonious  eti- 
quette established  at  the  White  House  by  Van  Buren 
vanished,  and  the  President  lived  precisely  as  he  had 
on  his  plantation,  attended  by  his  old  family  slaves. 
He  invariably  invited  visitors  with  whom  he  was 
acquainted,  or  strangers  who  were  introduced  to  him, 
to  visit  the  family  dining-room  and  "  take  something  " 
from  a  sideboard  well  garnished  with  decanters  of 
ardent  spirits  and  wines,  with  a  bowl  of  juleps  in  the 
summer  and  of  egg-nog"  in  the  winter.  He  thus 

303 


3°4 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


expended  nearly  all  of  his  salary,  and  used  to  regret 
that  it  was  not  larger,  that  he  might  entertain  his  guests 
more  liberally. 

One  day  President  Tyler  joked  Mr.  Wise  about  his 
little  one-horse  carriage,  which  the  President  styled  "  a 
candle-box  on  wheels,"  to  which  the  Representative 
from  the  Accomac  district  retorted  by  telling  Mr.  Tyler 
that  he  had  been  riding  for  a  month  in  a  second-hand 
carriage  purchased  at  the  sale  of  the  effects  of  Mr. 

Paulding,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  under  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
and  having  the  Paulding  coat- 
of-arms  emblazoned  on  the  door 
panels.  The  President  laughed 
at  the  sally,  and  gave  orders  at 
once  to  have  the  armorial  bear- 
ings of  the  Pauldings  painted 
over.  Economy  also  prompted 
the  purchase  of  some  partly 
worn  suits  of  livery  at  the  sale 
of  the  effects  of  a  foreign  Minis- 
ter, and  these  were  afterward 
worn  by  the  colored  waiters  at 
state  dinners. 

"Beau"  Hickman,  as  he  called 

himself,  .made  his  appearance  at  Washington  toward  the 
close  of  the  Tyler  Administration.  He  was  of  middle 
size,  with  long  hair,  and  an  inoffensive,  cadaverous  coun- 
tenance. It  was  his  boast  that  he  was  born  among  the 
slashes  of  Hanover  County,  Virginia,  and  he  was  to  be 
seen  lounging  about  the  hotels,  fashionably,  yet  shab- 
bily, dressed,  generally  wearing  soiled  white  kid  gloves 
and  a  white  cravat.  It  was  considered  the  proper  thing 
to  introduce  strangers  to  the  Beau,  who  thereupon  un- 


BEAU"  HICKMAN. 


Colonel  Bentori's  Home. 


305 


blushingly  demanded  his  initiation  fee,  and  his  impu- 
dence sometimes  secured  him  a  generous  sum.  He 
was  always  ready  to  pilot  his  victims  to  gambling- 
houses  and  other  questionable  resorts,  and  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  he  lived  on  the  blackmail  thus  levied  upon 
strangers. 

One  of  the  most  agreeable  homes  in  Washington 
was  that  of  Colonel  Benton,  the  veteran  Senator  from 
Missouri,  whose  ac- 
complished and  grace- 
ful daughters  had  been 
thoroughly  educated 
under  his  own  super- 
vision. He  was  not 
willing,  however,  that 
one  of  them,  Miss  Jes- 
sie, should  receive  the 
attentions  of  a  young 
second  lieutenant  in 
the  corps  of  Topo- 
graphical Engineers, 
Mr.  Fremont,  and  the 
young  couple,  there- 
fore, eloped  and  were 
married  clandestinely. 
The  Colonel,  although  terribly  angry  at  first,  accepted 
the  situation,  and  his  powerful  support  in  Congress 
afterward  enabled  Mr.  Fremont  to  explore,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  General  Government,  the  vast  central 
regions  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  to  plant  the 
national  flag  on  Wind  River  Peak,  upward  of  thirteen 
thousand  feet  above  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

A  very  different  wedding  was  that  of  the  Baron  Alex- 
ander de  Bodisco,  the  Russian  Minister  Plenipotentiary, 

20 


J.  C.  FREMONT. 


306  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

and  Miss  Harriet  Williams,  a  daughter  of  the  chief 
clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Adjutant-General.  The 
Baron  was  nearly  fifty  years  of  age,  with  dyed  hair, 
whiskers,  and  moustache,  and  she  a  blonde  schoolgirl 
of  "  sweet  sixteen,"  celebrated  for  her  clear  complexion 
and  robust  beauty.  The  ceremony  was  performed  at 
her  father's  house  on  Georgetown  Heights,  and  was  a 
regular  May  and  December  affair  throughout.  There 
were  eight  groomsmen,  six  of  whom  were  well  advanced 
in  life,  and  as  many  bridesmaids,  all  of  them  young 
girls  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age,  wearing 
long  dresses  of  white  satin  damask,  donated  by  the 
"bridegroom.  The  question  of  precedence  gave  the 
Earon  much  trouble,  as  he  could  not  determine  whether 
Mr.  Fox,  then  the  British  Minister  and  Dean  of  the 
Diplomatic  Corps,  or  Senator  Buchanan,  who  had  been 
Minister  to  Russia,  should  be  the  first  groomsman. 
This  important  question  was  settled  by  having  the 
groomsmen  and  bridesmaids  stand  in  couples,  four  on 
either  side  of  the  bridegroom  and  bride.  The  ceremony 
was  witnessed  at  the  bride's  residence  by  a  distin- 
guished company,  and  the  bridal  party  then  went  in 
carriages  to  the  Russian  Legation,  where  an  elegant 
entertainment  awaited  them,  and  where  some  of  the 
many  guests  got  gloriously  drunk  in  drinking  the 
health  of  the  happy  couple. 

Queen  Victoria's  diplomatic  representative  at  Wash- 
ington at  that  time,  the  Honorable  Henry  Stephen 
Fox,  was  a  son  of  General  Fox,  of  the  British  Army, 
who  fought  at  the  battle  of  Lexington  in  1775,  and 
a  nephew  of  the  eminent  statesman,  Charles  James 
Fox.  He  had  served  in  the  British  Diplomatic  Corps 
for  several  years,  and  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
Ms  duties,  but  he  held  the  least  possible  intercourse 


John  Howard  Payne.  307 

with  the  Department  of  State  and  rarely  entered  a 
private  house.  He  used  to  rise  about  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  and  take  his  morning  walk  on  Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue  an  hour  or  two  later.  Miss  Seaton  says 
that  a  gentleman  on  one  occasion,  meeting  him  at  dusk 
in  the  Capitol  grounds,  urged  him  to  return  with  him  to 
dinner,  to  which  Mr.  Fox  replied  that  "  he  would  wil- 
lingly do  so,  but  his  people  were  waiting  breakfast  for 
liim."  On  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of  a  member  of 
the  Diplomatic  Corps,  turning  to  the  wife  of  the  Span- 
ish Minister,  he  said  :  "  How  very  odd  we  all  look  by 
•daylight !"  it  being  the  first  time  he  had  seen  his  col- 
leagues except  by  candle-light.  He  went  to  bed  at 
daylight,  after  watering  his  plants,  of  which  he  was 
passionately  fond. 

John  Howard  Payne  visited  Washington  to  solicit 
from  President  Tyler  a  foreign  consulate.  He  was 
then  in  the  prime  of  life,  slightly  built,  and  rather 
under  the  medium  height.  His  finely  developed  head 
was  bald  on  the  top,  but  the  sides  were  covered  with 
light  brown  hair.  His  nose  was  large,  his  eyes  were 
light  blue,  and  he  wore  a  full  beard,  consisting  of  side- 
whiskers  and  a  moustache,  which  were  always  well- 
trimmed.  He  was  scrupulously  neat  in  his  dress,  and 
tisually  wore  a  dark  brown  frock  coat  and  a  black  vest, 
while  his  neck  was  covered  with  a  black  satin  scarf, 
which  was  arranged  in  graceful  folds  across  his  breast. 
Despite  his  unpretending  manner  and  his  plain  attire, 
there  was  something  about  his  appearance  which  never 
failed  ,to  attract  attention.  His  voice  was  low  and 
musical,  and  when  conversing  on  any  subject  in  which 
he  was  deeply  interested  he  spoke  with  a  degree  of 
earnestness  that  enchained  the  attention  and  touched 
the  hearts  of  his  listeners.  After  much  solicitation  by 


308 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


himself  and  his  friends,  he  obtained  the  appointment 
of  United  States  Consul  at  Tunis,  and  left  for  his  post, 


^i^f^^m- 

rdr  » -^."-tf.  v.'V-';'- 3S 


„&& 

s^-rfaJ-E 


< 


PAYNE'S  MONUMENT  AT  OAK  HILL  CEMETERY. 

where  he  died,  his  remains  being  finally  brought  to  the 
Capital  and  buried  in  Oak  Hill  Cemetery. 

Among  the  curiosities  of  Washington  about  this 
time  was  the  studio  of  Messrs.  Moore  &  Ward,  in  one 
of  the  committee-rooms  at  the  Capitol,  where  like- 


Daguerreotypes  and  Telegraphs. 


309 


nesses  were  taken — as  the  advertisement  read — "  with 
the  Daguerreotype,  or  Pencil  of  Nature."  The  "  like- 
nesses, by  diffused  light,  could  be  taken  by  them  in 
any  kind  of  weather  during  the  daytime,  and  sitters 
were  not  subjected  to  the  slightest  inconvenience  or 
unpleasant  sensation."  The  new  discovery  gradually 
supplanted  the  painting  of  miniatures  on  ivory  in 
water-colors,  and  the  cutting  of  silhouettes  from  white 
paper,  which  were 
shown  on  a  black 
ground.  Another  novel 
invention  was 'the  elec- 
tric, or,  as  it  was  then 
called,  the  magnetic, 
telegraph.  Mr.  Morse 
had  a  model  on  exhibi- 
tion at  the  Capitol,  and 
the  beaux  and  belles 
used  to  hold  brief  con- 
versations over  the  mys- 
terious wire.  At  last 
the  House  considered  a 
bill  appropriating  twen- 
ty-five thousand  dol- 
lars, to  be  expended  in 
a  series  of  experiments 
with  the  new  invention. 

In  the  brief  debate  on  the  bill,  Mr.  Cave  Johnson 
undertook  to  ridicule  the  discovery  by  proposing  that 
one-half  of  the  proposed  appropriation  be  devoted  to 
experiments  with  mesmerism,  while  Mr.  Houghton 
thought  that  Millerism  (a  religious  craze  then  preva- 
lent) should  be  included  in  the  benefits  of  the  appro- 
priation. To  those  who  thus  ridiculed  the  telegraph  it 


SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 


310  Per 'ley 's   Reminiscences. 

was  a  chimera,  a  visionary  dream  like  mesmerism, 
rather  to  be  a  matter  of  merriment  than  serionsly 
entertained.  Men  of  character,  men  of  erudition,  men 
who,  in  ordinary  affairs,  had  foresight,  were  wholly 
unable  to  forecast  the  future  of  the  telegraph.  Other 
motions  disparaging  to  the  invention  were  made,  such 
as  propositions  to  appropriate  part  of  the  sum  to  a 
telegraph  to  the  moon.  The  majority  of  Congress  did 
not  concur  in  this  attempt  to  defeat  the  measure  by 
ridicule,  and  the  bill  was  passed  by  the  close  vote  of 
eighty-nine  to  eighty-three.  A  change  of  three  votes, 
however,  would  have  consigned  the  invention  to  obliv- 
ion. Another  year  witnessed  the  triumphant  success 
of  the  test  of  its  practicability.  The  invention  vindi- 
cated its  character  as  a  substantial  reality  ;  it  was  no 
longer  a  chimera,  a  visionary  scheme  to  extort  money 
from  the  public  coffers.  Mr.  Morse  was  no  more  sub- 
jected to  the  suspicion  of  lunacy,  nor  ridiculed  in  the 
Halls  of  Congress,  but  he  had  to  give  large  shares  of 
its  profits  to  Amos  Kendall  and  F.  O.  J.  Smith  before 
he  could  make  his  discovery  of  practical  value. 

The  New  York  Tribune  was  first  published  during 
the  Tyler  Administration  by  Horace  Greeley,  who  had 
very  successfully  edited  the  Log  Cabin,  a  political 
newspaper,  during  the  preceding  Presidential  cam- 
paign. The  Tribune,  like  the  New  York  Herald  and 
Sun,  was  then  sold  at  one  cent  a  copy,  and  was  neces- 
sarily little  more  than  a  brief  summary  of  the  news 
of  the  day.  But  it  was  the  germ  of  what  its  editor 
lived  to  see  it  become — a  great  newspaper.  It  soon 
had  a  good  circulation  at  Washington,  where  the  emi- 
nently respectable  National  Intelligencer  and  the  pon- 
derous Globe  failed  to  satisfy  the  reading  community. 

Mr.    Webster   remained   in   the    Cabinet   until   the 


Honors  for  Webster.  311 

spring  of  1843,  when  the  evident  determination  of 
President  Tyler  to  secure  the  annexation  of  Texas 
made  it  very  desirable  that  Webster  should  leave,  so 
he  was  "  frozen  out "  by  studied  reserve  and  coldness. 
By  remaining  in  the  Cabinet  he  had  estranged  many 
of  his  old  political  associates,  and  Colonel  Seaton, 
anxious  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation,  gave  one  of 
his  famous  "stag"  supper-parties,  to  which  he  invited 
a  large  number  of  Senators  and  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  The  convivialities  had  just  com- 
menced when  the  dignified  form  of  Webster  was  seen 
entering  the  parlor,  and  as  he  advanced  his  big  eyes 
surveyed  the  company,  recognizing,  doubtless,  some  of 
those  who  had  become  partially  alienated  from  him. 
On  the  instant,  up  sprang  a  distinguished  Senator 
from  one  of  the  large  Southern  States,  who  exclaimed: 
"Gentlemen,  I  have  a  sentiment  to  propose — the  health 
of  our  eminent  citizen,  the  negotiator  of  the  Ashbur- 
ton  Treaty."  The  company  enthusiastically  responded. 
Webster  instantly  replied :  "  I  have  also  a  sentiment 
for  you, — The  Senate  of  the  United  States,  without 
which  the  Ashburton  Treaty  would  have  been  nothing, 
and  the  negotiator  of  that  treaty  less  than  nothing. " 
The  quickness  and  fitness  of  this  at  once  banished 
every  doubtful  or  unfriendly  feeling.  The  company 
clustered  around  the  magnate,  whose  sprightly  and  edi- 
fying conversation  never  failed  to  excite  admiration, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  evening  was  spent  in  a 
manner  most  agreeable  to  all. 

Immediately  after  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Webster 
the  Cabinet  was  reconstructed,  but  a  few  months  later 
the  bursting  of  a  cannon  on  the  war-steamer  Princeton, 
while  returning  from  a  pleasure  excursion  down  the 
Potomac,  killed  Mr.  Upshur,  the  newly  appointed  Sec- 


3I2 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


retary  of  State,  Mr.  Gilmer,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
with  six  others,  while  Colonel  Benton  narrowly  escaped 
death,  and  nine  seamen  were  injured.  The  President 
had  intended  to  witness  the  discharge  of  the  gnn,  but 
was  casually  detained  in  the  cabin,  and  so  escaped 
harm.  This  shocking  catastrophe  cast  a  gloom  over 
Washington,  and  there  was  a  general  attendance,  irre- 


BURSTING  OF  THE  GUN  ON  THE  PRINCETON. 


spective  of  party,  at  the  funeral  of  the   two  Cabinet 
officers,  who  were  buried  from  the  White  House. 

One  of  those  killed  by  the  explosion  on  the  Prince- 
ton was  Mr.  Gardiner,  a  New  York  gentleman,  whose 
ancestors  were  the  owners  of  Gardiner's  Island,  in  Long 
Island  Sound.  His  daughter  Julia,  a  young  lady  of 
fine  presence,  rare  beauty,  and  varied  accomplishments, 
had  for  some  time  been  the  object  of  marked  attentions 


A  Helpful  Wife.  313 

from  President  Tyler,  although  he  was  in  his  fifty-fifth 
year  and  she  bnt  about  twenty.  Soon  after  she  was 
deprived  of  her  father  they  were  quietly  married  in 
church  at  New  York,  and  President  Tyler  brought  his 
young  bride  to  the  White  House. 

Mrs.  Lydia  Dickinson,  wife  of  Daniel  F.  Dickinson, 
a  Senator  from  New  York,  was  the  recognized  leader 
of  Washington  society  during  the  Administration  of 
President  Tyler.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Knapp, 
and,  when  a  school  girl,  fell  in  love  with  Dickinson, 
then  a  smart  young  wool-dresser,  and  discerning  his 
talents,  urged  him  to  study  law. and  to  fit  himself  for 
a  high  political  position  in  life.  She  was  gratified  by 
his  unexampled  advancement,  and  when  he  came  here 
a  United  States  Senator,  she  soon  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  social  life  of  the  metropolis. 


CALEB  GUSHING  was  born  at  Salisbury,  Massachusetts,  January  yth,  1800  ;  was  a  Representatire 
in  Congress  from  Massachusetts,  1835-1843  ;  was  Commissioner  to  China,  1843-1845  ;  served  in  the 
Mexican  War  as  Colonel  and  Brigadier-General,  1847-1848;  was  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States  under  President  Pierce,  1853-1857  ;  was  counsel  for  the  United  States  before  the  Geneva  tri- 
bunal of  arbitration  on  the  Alabama  claims,  1871  ;  was  Minister  to  Spain,  1874-1877,  and  died  at 
Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  January  2d,  1879. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

HOW  TEXAS   BECAME  A  STATE. 

JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  SECRETARY  OP  STATE — HOW  TYLER  WAS  MANAGED 
— ADMISSION  OF  TEXAS— DOUGLAS,  OP  ILLINOIS— AN  ABLE  HOUSE  OP 
REPRESENTATIVES  —  EXCITING  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  —  PRO- 
GRAMME OF  PRESIDENT  TYLER — NOMINATION  OF  HENRY  CLAY — THE 
DEMOCRATIC  TICKET — SURPRISE  OF  MR.  DALLAS — THE  LIBERTY 
PARTY — BIRTHNIGHT  BALL — EXIT  OF  JOHN  TYLER. 

PRESIDENT  TYLER  was  encouraged  in  his 
desire  to  have  Texas  admitted  as  a  State  of  the 
Union  by  Henry  A.  Wise,  his  favorite  adviser, 
and  by  numerous  holders  of  Texan  war  scrip  and 
bonds.  Before  the  victims  of  the  Princeton  explosion 
were  shrouded,  Mr.  Wise  called  upon  Mr.  McDuffie,  a 
member  of  the  Senate,  who  represented  Mr.  Calhoun's 
interests  at  Washington,  and  informed  him  that  the 
distinguished  South  Carolinian  would  be  appointed 
Secretary  of  State.  Mr.  Wise  urged  the  Senator  to 
write  to  Mr.  Calhoun  at  once,  begging  him  not  to  de- 
cline the  position  should  he  be  nominated  and  con- 
firmed. Mr.  McDuffie  did  not  ask  Mr.  Wise  if  he 
spoke  by  Mr.  Tyler's  authority,  but  evidently  believed 
that  he  was  so  authorized,  and  promised  to  write  to 
Mr.  Calhoun  by  that  afternoon's  mail. 

Mr.  Wise  then  went  to  the  Executive  Mansion, 
where  he  found  Mr.  Tyler  in  the  breakfast  room,  much 
affected  by  the  account  of  the  awful  catastrophe  of  the 
previous  day.  Mr.  Wise  told  him  rather  abruptly  that 


Calhoun  in  the  Cabinet. 


315 


it  was  no  time  for  grief,  as  there  were  vacancies  in  the 
Cabinet  to  be  filled,  in  order  that  urgent  matters  then 
under  his  control  might  be  disposed  of.  "  What  is  to 
be  done  ?"  asked  President  Tyler.  Mr.  Wise  had  an 
answer  ready :  "  Your  most  important  work  is  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  and  the  man  for  that  work  is 
John  C.  Calhoun,  as  Secretary  of  State.  Send  for  him 
at  once." 

"  No,  sir !"  replied  the  President,  rather  coldly. 
"  The  annexation  of 
Texas  is  important, 
but  Mr.  Calhoun  is  not 
the  man  of  my  choice." 
This  was  rather  a  dam- 
per on  Mr.  Wise,  but 
he  resolutely  insisted 
on  Mr.  Calhoun's  ap- 
pointment, and  finally 
the  President  yielded. 
The  nomination  was 
sent  to  the  Senate  and 
confirmed  without  op- 
position. Mr.  Calhoun 
came  to  Washington, 
and  was  soon  installed 
as  Secretary  of  State. 
It  took  him  only  from  February  a8th  to  April  i2th 
to  conclude  the  negotiation  which  placed  the  "Lone 
Star "  in  the  azure  field  of  the  ensign  of  the  Re- 
public. The  treaty  of  annexation  was  signed  and  sent 
to  the  Senate  for  ratification,  but  after  a  protracted 
discussion  it  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  sixteen  yeas  to 
thirty-five  nays.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  had  just 
entered  Congress  as  one  of  the  seven  Representatives 


STEPHEN  A.    DOUGLAS. 


316 


Perleyfs  Reminiscences. 


from  Illinois,  came  to  the  front  ac  tlia^  time  as  the 
principal  advocate  for  the  remission  of  a  fine  which 
had  been  imposed  upon  General  Jackson  by  Judge 
Hall  at  New  Orleans  twenty-five  years  before. 

This  was  the  first  move  made  by  Mr.  Douglas  in  his 
canvass  for  the  Presidency,  but  he  was  soon  prominent 
in  that  class  of  candidates  of  whom  Senator  William 
Allen,  of  Ohio,  said,  "  Sir !  they  are  going  about  the 

country  like  dry-goods 
drummers,  exhibiting 
samples  of  their 
wares."  Always  on 
the  alert  to  make  new 
friends  and  to  retain 
old  ones,  he  was  not 
only  a  vigorous  hand- 
shaker, but  he  would 
throw  his  arms  fondly 
around  a  man,  as  if 
that  man  held  the  first 
place  in  his  heart. 
No  statement  was  too 
chary  of  truth  in  its 
composition,  no  parti- 
san manoeuvre  was  too 

openly  dishonest,  no  political  pathway  was  too  danger- 
ous, if  it  afforded  an  opportunity  for  making  a  point  for 
Douglas.  He  was  industrious  and  sagacious,  clothing 
his  brilliant  ideas  in  energetic  and  emphatic  language, 
and  standing  like  a  lion  at  bay  when  opposed.  He  had 
a  herculean  frame,  with  the  exception  of  his  lower 
limbs,  which  were  short  and  small,  dwarfing  what 
otherwise  would  have  been  a  conspicuous  figure,  and  he 
was  popularly  known  as  "  the  Little  Giant."  His 


ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP. 


Giants  in  the  House. 


317 


large,  round  head  surmounted  a  massive  neck,  and  his 
features  were  symmetrical,  although  his  small  nose 
deprived  them  of  dignity.  His  dark  eyes,  peering 
from  beneath  projecting  brows,  gleamed  with  energy, 
mixed  with  an  expression  of  slyness  and  sagacity,  and 
his  full  lips  were  generally  stained  at  the  corners  of 
his  mouth  with  tobacco  juice.  His  voice  was  neither 
musical  nor  soft,  and  his  gestures  were  not  graceful. 
But  he  would  speak 
for  hours  in  clear,  well 
enunciated  tones,  and 
the  sharp  Illinois  at- 
torney soon  developed 
into  the  statesman  at 
Washington. 

The  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, at  that 
period,  could  boast  of 
more  ability  than  the 
Senate.  Among  the 
most  prominent  mem- 
bers were  the  accom- 
plished Robert  C.  Win- 
throp,  who  so  well 
sustained  the  reputa- 
tion of  his  distinguished  ancestors ;  Hamilton  Fish, 
the  representative  Knickerbocker  from  the  State  of 
New  York ;  Alexander  Ramsey,  a  worthy  descendant 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Dutchmen ;  the  loquacious  Gar- 
re  tt  Davis,  of  Kentucky  ;  the  emaciated  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  of  Georgia,  who  apparently  had  not  a  month 
to  live,  yet  who  rivaled  Talleyrand  in  political  intrigue  ; 
John  Wentworth,  a  tall  son  of  New  Hampshire,  trans- 
planted to  the  prairies  of  Illinois ;  Andrew  Johnson, 


HAMILTON  FISH. 


318  Per  ley*  s  Reminiscences. 

of  Tennessee,  a  born  demagogue  and  self-constituted 
champion  of  the  people  ;  John  Slidell,  of  New  Orleans  4 
Robert  Dale  Owen,  the  visionary  communist  from 
Indiana ;  Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  and  Jacob  Thomp- 
son, of  Mississippi,  who  were  busily  laying  the  foun- 
dations for  the  Southern  Confederacy,  "  with  slavery 
as  its  corner-stone ;"  the  brilliant  Robert  C.  Schenck, 
of  Ohio,  and  the  genial  Isaac  B.  Holmes,  of  South 
Carolina,  who  softened  the  asperities  of  debate  by 
many  kindly  comments  made  in  an  undertone. 

One  of  General  Schenck's  stories  was  told  by  him 
to  illustrate  the  "  change  of  base "  by  those  Whigs 
who  had  enlisted  in  the  Tyler  guard,  yet  declared  that 
they  had  not  shifted  their  position.  "  Many  years  pre- 
vious," he  said,  "  when  silk  goods  were  scarce  and  dear, 
an  old  lady  in  Ohio  purchased  a  pair  of  black  silk 
stockings.  Being  very  proud  of  this  addition  to  her 
dress,  she  wore  them  frequently  until  they  became 
quite  worn  out;  as  often,  however,  as -a  hole  appeared 
in  these  choice  articles,  she  very  carefully  darned  it 
up ;  but  for  this  purpose,  having  no  silk,  she  was 
obliged  to  use  white  yarn.  She  usually  appropriated 
Saturday  evenings  to  this  exercise.  Finally,  she  had 
darned  them  so  much  that  not  a  single  particle  of  the 
original  material  or  color  remained.  Yet  such  was  the 
force  of  habit  with  her  that  as  often  as  Saturday  even- 
ing came  she  would  say  to  her  granddaughter,  'Anny, 
bring  me  my  black  silk  stockings.' ' 

The  Presidential  campaign  of  1844  was  very  exciting. 
Mr.  Van  Buren's  friends  did  not  entertain  a  shadow 
of  doubt  that  he  would  be  nominated,  and  his  oppo- 
nents in  the  Democratic  ranks  had  almost  lost  hope  ol 
defeating  him  in  the  nominating  convention,  when,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  he  was  adroitly  ques- 


Tyler  and  Texas.  319 

tioned  on  the  annexation  of  Texas  in  a  letter  written 
to  him  by  Mr.  Hammett,  a  Representative  from  Missis- 
sippi. Mr.  Van  Buren  was  too  sagacious  a  politician 
not  to  discover  the  pit  thus  dug  for  him,  and  he  replied 
with  great  caution,  avowing  himself  in  favor  of  the 
annexation  of  Texas  when  it  could  be  brought  about 
peacefully  and  honorably,  but  against  it  at  that  time, 
when  it  would  certainly  be  followed  by  war  with 
Mexico.  This  was  what  the  Southern  conspirators 
wanted,  and  their  subsequent  action  was  thus  narrated 
in  a  letter  written  a  few  years  afterward  by  John  Tyler, 
which  is  here  published  for  the  first  time : 

"  Texas,"  wrote  Mr.  Tyler,  "  was  the  great  theme 
that  occupied  me.  The  delegates  to  the  Democratic 
Convention,  or  a  very  large  majority  of  them,  had 
been  elected  under  implied  pledges  to  sustain  Van 
Buren.  After  his  letter  repudiating  annexation,  a 
revulsion  had  become  obvious,  but  how  far  it  was  to 
operate  it  was  not  possible  to  say.  A  majority  of  the 
delegates  at  least  were  believed  still  to  remain  in  his 
favor.  If  he  was  nominated  the  game  to  be  played  for 
Texas  was  all  over.  What  was  to  be  done  ? 

"  My  friends,"  Mr.  Tyler  went  on  to  say,  "  advised 
me  to  remain  at  rest,  and  take  my  chances  in  the 
Democratic  Convention.  It  was  impossible  to  do  so. 
If  I  suffered  my  name  to  be  used  in  that  Convention, 
then  I  became  bound  to  sustain  the  nomination,  even 
if  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  the  nominee.  This  could 
not  be.  I  chose  to  run  no  hazard,  but  to  raise  the. 
banner  of  Texas,  and  convoke  my  friends  to  sustain 
it.  This  was  but  a  few  weeks  before  the  meeting  of 
the  Convention.  To  my  surprise,  the  notice  which 
was  thus  issued  brought  together  a  thousand  delegates, 
and  from  every  State  in  the  Union.  Many  called  on 


320 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


me  on  their  way  to  Baltimore  to  receive  my  views. 
My  instructions  were,  '  Go  to  Baltimore,  make  your 
nomination,  then  go  home,  and  leave  the  thing  to 
work  its  own  results.'  I  said  no  more,  and  was 
obeyed.  The  Democratic  Convention  felt  the  move. 
A  Texan  man  or  defeat  was  the  choice  left,  and  they 
took  a  Texan  man.  My  withdrawal  at  a  suitable  time 
took  place,  and  the  result  was  soon  before  the  world. 

I  acted  to  insure  the 
success  of  a  great  mea- 
sure, and  I  acted  not 
altogether  without  ef- 
fect. In  so  doing  I 
kept  my  own  secrets  ; 
to  have  divulged  my 
purposes  would  have 
been  to  have  defeated 
them." 

The  National  Whig 
Convention  assembled 
at  Baltimore,  and 
Henry  Clay  was  nomi- 
nated with  great  en- 
thusiasm, ex-Senator 
Theodore  Frelinghuy- 
sen,  of  New  Jersey,  being  nominated  as  Vice-President. 
The  next  day  a  hundred  thousand  Whigs,  from  every 
section  of  the  Republic,  met  in  mass  convention  at  Bal- 
timore, with  music,  banners,  and  badges,  to  ratify  the 
ticket.  Mr.  Webster,  with  true  magnanimity,  was  one 
of  the  speakers,  and  advocated  the  election  of  Clay  and 
Frelinghuysen  with  all  the  strength  of  his  eloquence. 
The  Whigs  were  jubilant  when  their  chosen  leader 
again  took  the  field,  and  the  truants  flocked  back  to  the 


THEODORE  FRELINGHUYSEN. 


Notified  at  Midnight.  321 

standard  which  they  had  deserted  to  support  John 
Tyler.  Harmony  once  more  prevailed  among  the 
leaders  and  in  the  ranks,  and  the  Whig  party  was 
again  in  good  working  order. 

Three  weeks  later  the  National  Democratic  Conven- 
tion met  at  Baltimore  and  remained  in  session  three 
days.  A  majority  of  the  delegates  advocated  the  nom- 
ination of  ex-President  Van  Buren,  but  he  was  defeated 
by  permitting  his  opponents  to  pass  the  two-thirds  rule, 
and  on  the  third  day  James  K.  Polk  was  nominated. 
Silas  Wright  was  nominated  as  Vice-President,  but  he 
positively  declined,  saying  to  his  friends  that  he  did 
not  propose  to  ride  behind  on  the  black  pony  [slavery] 
at  the  funeral  of  his  slaughtered  friend,  Mr.  Van  Buren. 
Mr.  George  M.  Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  then 
nominated. 

Governor  Fairfield,  of  Maine,  on  his  return  from 
Philadelphia  on  the  first  of  June,  1844,  whither  he  had 
gone  as  Chairman  of  a  Committee  of  the  Democratic 
Convention  to  inform  Mr.  Dallas  of  his  nomination  as 
Vice-President,  gave  an  amusing  account  of  the  scene. 
The  Committee  reached  Philadelphia  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  were  piloted  to  Mr.  Dallas' 
house  by  his  friend,  Senator  Robert  J.  Walker.  Loud 
knocks  at  the  door  brought  Mr.  Dallas  to  his  chamber 
window.  Recognizing  Mr.  Walker,  and  fearing  that 
his  daughter,  who  was  in  Washington,  was  ill,  he  has- 
tened down-stairs,  half  dressed  and  in  slippers,  when, 
to.  his  utter  amazement,  in  walked  sixty  or  more  gen- 
tlemen, two  by  two,  with  the  tread  of  soldiers,  passing 
him  by  and  entering  his  front  parlor,  all  maintaining 
the  most  absolute  silence.  Mr.  Dallas,  not  having  the 
slightest  conception  of  their  object,  stood  thunder- 
struck at  the  scene.  Mr.  Walker  then  led  him  into  the 
21 


322 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


back  parlor.  "  My  dear  Walker,"  said  he,  in  amaze- 
ment, "  what  is  the  matter?"  "  Wait  one  moment,  if 
you  please,  Dallas,  wait  one  moment,  if  you  please." 
In  a  few  moments  the  folding-doors  connecting  the 
parlors  were  thrown  back,  and  in  the  front  parlor 
(which  had  meanwhile  been  lighted  up)  Mr.  Dallas  saw 


GEORGE  M.  DALLAS  NOTIFIED  OF  HIS  NOMINATION. 

a  semi-circle  of  gentlemen,  who  greeted  him  with  ap- 
plause. Governor  Fairfield  then  stepped  forward,  and 
briefly  informed  Mr.  Dallas  what  the  action  of  the  Con- 
vention had  been.  The  candidate  for  Vice-President, 
who  had  recovered  from  his  momentary  surprise,  elo- 
quently acknowledged  the  compliment  paid  him,  and 
promised  to  more  formally  reply  by  letter.  He  then 


Two  Notable  Balls.  323 

opened  his  sideboard,  and  all  joined  in  pledging  "suc- 
cess to  the  ticket," 

Mr.  Clay  unfortunately  wrote  a  Texas  letter,  which 
fell  like  a  wet  blanket  upon  the  Whigs,  and  enabled 
the  Democratic  managers  to  deprive  him  of  the  vote  of 
New  York  by  organizing  the  Liberty  party,  which 
nominated  James  G.  Birney,  of  Michigan,  as  President, 
and  Thomas  Morris,  of  Ohio,  as  Vice-President.  This 
nomination  received  the  support  of  the  anti-slavery 
men,  of  many  disappointed  adherents  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  and  of  the  anti-Masonic  and  anti-rent  factions 
of  the  Whig  party  of  New  York.  The  consequence 
was  that  over  sixty  thousand  votes  were  thrown  away 
on  Birney,  nine-tenths  of  them  being  drawn  from  the 
Whig  ranks,  thus  securing  a  complete  triumph  for  the 
Democrats. 

At  the  "birthnight  ball,"  on  the  2 2d  of  February, 
1845,  President  Tyler  was  accompanied  by  President- 
elect Polk.  Mrs.  Madison  also  was  present  with  Mrs. 
Alexander  Hamilton,  and  the  members  of  the  Diplo- 
matic Corps  wore -their  court  uniforms.  A  few  nights 
afterward  President  Tyler  gave  a  "  parting  ball "  at  the 
White  House,  his  young  and  handsome  wife  receiving 
the  guests  with  distinguished  grace.  Mr.  Polk  was 
prevented  from  attending  by  the  indisposition  of  his 
wife,  but  the  Vice-President-elect,  Mr.  Dallas,  with  his 
splendid  crown  of  white  hair,  towered  above  all  other 
guests  except  General  Scott  and  "  Long  John  "  Went- 
worth.  There  was  dancing  in  the  Bast  Room,  Mrs. 
Tyler  leading  off  in  the  first  set  of  quadrilles  with 
Mr.  Wilkins,  the  Secretary  of  War,  as  her  partner. 
This  entertainment  concluded  the  "  Cavalier "  reign 
within  the  White  House,  which  was  soon  ruled  with 
Puritan  austerity  by  Mrs.  Polk. 


324 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


Near  the  close  of  the  session  of  Congress  with  which 
the  Administration  of  John  Tyler  terminated,  a  joint 
resolution  legislating  Texas  into  the  Union  was  intro- 


duced. When  it  had 
been  passed  by  the 
House  after  deter- 
mined resistance, 
it  was  discussed, 
amended,  and  passed 
by  the  Senate.  It 

EX-PRESIDENT  TYLER   LEFT.  J 

reached     the    Presi- 
dent on  the  2d  of  March,  received  his  immediate  ap- 
proval, and  the  next  day  a  messenger  was  started  for 
Texas,  to  have  it  accepted,  and  thus  secure  annexation. 
On   the   morning   of  the  4th   of  March,   1845,  Mr. 


•  The  Ex-President  Left.  325 

Tyler  left  the  White  House,  not  caring  to  assist  in  the 
inauguration  of  his  successor.  As  the  Potomac  steamer 
was  about  to  swing  away  from  the  wharf,  which  was 
crowded  with  people  who  were  glad  to  see  the  ex-Presi- 
dent depart,  he  came  along  with  his  family,  a  squad- 
ron of  colored  servants,  and  a  great  lot  of  luggage. 
As  they  alighted  from  their  carriages  at  the  head  of 
the  wharf  the  whistle  sounded,  the  boat's  bell  rang, 
and  she  began  slowly  to  move  away.  Some  one  in  the 
crowd  sang  out,  "  Hello  !  hello !  Captain,  hold  on  there, 
ex-President  T3^1er  is  coming.  Hold  on  !"  The  cap- 
tain, an  old  Clay  Whig,  standing  near  the  stern  of 
the  boat  on  the  upper  deck,  looked  over  the  rail,  saw 
the  Presidential  crowd  coming,  but  pulled  his  engine 
bell  violently  and  shouted,  "  Ex-President  Tyler  be 
dashed !  let  him  stay."  This  scene  was  lithographed 
and  copies  hung  for  years  in  many  of  the  saloons  and 
public  houses  of  Washington. 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD  DOUGLAS  was  born  at  Brandon,  Vermont,  April  23d,  1813  ;  was  a  Representa- 
tive in  Congress  from  Illinois,  1843-1847 ;  was  United  States  Senator  from  1847  until  his  death  at 
Chicago.  June  3d,  1861. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

RESTORATION  OF  THE  DEMOCRATS. 

INAUGURATION  OP  POLK — HIS  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE — INAUGURA- 
TION BALLS — MRS.  POLK  —  SECRETARY  BUCHANAN  —  GOVERNOR 
MARCY,  OP  NEW  YORK — COMPLETION  OF  THE  CABINET — THE  ORE- 
GON DIFFICULTY — THE  MEXICAN  WAR— A  CHANGE  OF  ORGANIST. 

JAMES  KNOX  POLK  was  inaugurated  as  the 
eleventh  President  of  the  United  States  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1845,  a  rainv>  unpleasant  day. 
Had  any  method  of  contesting  a  Presidential  election 
been  provided  by  the  Constitution  or  the  laws,  the 
fraudulent  means  by  which  his  election  was  secured 
would  have  been  brought  forward  to  prevent  his  taking 
his  seat.  But  the  Constitution  had  made  no  such  pro- 
vision, and  Congress  had  not  been  disposed  to  inter- 
fere ;  so  Mr.  Polk  was  duly  inaugurated  with  great 
pomp,  under  the  direction  of  the  dominant  party.  A 
prominent  place  was  assigned  in  the  inaugural  proces- 
sion for  the  Democratic  associations  of  Washington 
and  other  cities.  The  pugilistic  Empire  Club  from 
New  York,  led  by  Captain  Isaiah  Rynders,  had  with  it 
a  small  cannon,  which  was  fired  at  short  intervals  as 
the  procession  advanced. 

The  Chief  Marshal  of  the  procession  having  issued 

orders    that    no    carriages    should   enter   the   Capitol 

grounds,  the  diplomats  were  forced  to  alight  at  a  side 

gate  in  the  rain,  and  to  walk  through  the  mud  to  the 

326 


Polk?s  Inauguration. 


327 


Senate  entrance,  damaging  their  feathered  chapeaux 
and  their  embroidered  uniforms,  to  their  great  dis- 
pleasure. Conspicuous  in  the  group  around  the  Presi- 
dent was  Vice-President  Dallas,  tall,  erect,  and  digni- 
fied, with  long,  snow-white  hair  falling  over  his  shoul- 


JAMES   KNOX  POLK. 

ders.  The  President-elect  read  his  inaugural,  which 
few  heard,  and  when  he  had  concluded  Chief  Justice 
Taney  administered  the  oath  of  office.  As  Mr.  Polk 
reverentially  kissed  the  Bible,  the  customary  salutes 
boomed  forth  at  the  Navy  Yard  and  at  the  Arsenal. 


328  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

The  new  President  was  then  escorted  to  the  White 
House,  the  rain  having  made  Pennsylvania  Avenue  so 
slippery  with  mud  that  not  a  few  of  the  soldiers  fell 
ingloriously  on  the  march. 

The  cry,  "Who  is  James  K.  Polk?"  raised  by  the 
Whigs  when  he  was  nominated,  was  unwarranted,  for 
he  was  not  an  unknown  man.  He  had  been  a  member 
of  the  House  from  1825  to  1839,  Speaker  from  1835 
to  1837,  and  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  during  a  portion  of  his  membership.  He  had 
been  a  Jackson  leader  in  the  House,  and  as  such  he 
had  manifested  not  only  zeal  and  skill  as  a  party 
manager,  but  also  substantial  qualities  of  a  respect- 
able order.  It  seems  certain  that  Polk  was  selected  by 
the  Southern  Democracy  some  time  before  the  Conven- 
tion met  in  1844,  and  that  he  was  heartily  in  sympathy 
with  the  movement  for  conquering  a  portion  of  Mexico, 
to  be  made  into  slave  States.  Polk  entered  heartily 
into  this  business,  and  worked  harmoniously  with  the 
instigators  of  conquest,  except  that  he  became  self- 
willed  when  his  vanity  was  touched. 

President  Polk  was  a  spare  man,  of  unpretending 
appearance  and  middle  stature,  with  a  rather  small 
head,  a  full,  angular  brow,  penetrating  dark  gray  eyes, 
and  a  firm  mouth.  His  hair,  which  he  wore  long  and 
brushed  back  behind  his  ears,  was  touched  with  silver 
when  he  entered  the  White  House  and  was  gray  when 
he  left  it.  He  was  a  worthy  and  well-qualified  member 
of  the  fraternity  of  Freemasons,  and  a  believer  in  the 
creed  of  the  Methodists,  although,  out  of  deference  to 
the  religious  opinions  of  his  wife,  he  attended  worship 
with  her  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  Calm,  cold, 
and  intrepid  in  his  moral  character,  he  was  ignorant  of 
the  beauty  of  moral  uprightness  in  the  conduct  of  public 


A  Presidential  Worker. 


329 


affairs,  but  was  ambitious  of  power  and  successful  in 
the  pursuit  of  it.  He  was  very  methodical  and  re- 
markably industrious,  always  finding  time  to  listen 
patiently  to  the  stories  of  those  who  came  to  him  as 


THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 


petitioners  for  patronage  and  place.  But  his  ardu- 
ous labors  impaired  his  health  and  doubtless  shortened 
his  life.  Before  his  term  of  office  had  half  expired 
his  friends  were  pained  to  witness  his  shortened  and 


330 


Per  ley*  s  Reminiscences. 


enfeebled  step,  and  the  air  of  languor  and  exhaustion 
which  sat  upon  him. 

There  were  two  inauguration  balls  in  honor  of  the 
new  President's  accession  to  power — one  at  ten  dol- 
lars a  ticket,  and  the  other  at  two  dollars.  The  ten- 
dollar  ball  was  at  Carusi's  saloon,  and  was  attended  by 
the  leaders  of  Washington  society,  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  and  many  officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy. 


Madame  de  Bodisco,  wife  of  the  Russian  Minister,  in 
a  superb  court  dress,  which  she  had  worn  while  on  her 
bridal  visit  to  St.  Petersburg,  attracted  much  attention, 
and  contrasted  strongly  with  Mrs.  Polk,  whose  attire 
was  very  plain.  The  ball  at  the  National  Theatre  was 
more  democratic,  and  was  attended  by  an  immense 
crowd,  whose  fight  for  the  supper  was  emblematical  of 
the  rush  and  scramble  about  to  be  made  for  the  loaves 
and  fishes  of  office.  When  the  guests  began  to  depart, 


Mrs.  Polk.  331 

it  was  found  that  the  best  hats,  cloaks,  and  canes  had 
been  taken  early  in  the  evening,  and  there  was  great 
grumbling.  Commodore  Klliot  had  his  pocket  picked 
at  the  White  House  on  inauguration  day,  the  thief  de- 
priving him  of  his  wallet,  which  contained  several  val- 
ued relics.  One  was  a  letter  from  General  Jackson, 
congratulating  him  on  his  restoration  to  his  position  in 
the  service,  and  containing  a  lock  of  "  Old  Hickory's  " 
hair ;  another  was  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Madison,  inclos- 
ing a  lock  of  Mr.  Madison's  hair. 

Mrs.  Polk  was  a  strict  Presbyterian,  and  she  shunned 
what  she  regarded  as  "  the  vanities  of  the  world " 
whenever  it  was  possible  for  her  to  do  so.  She  did  not 
possess  the  queenly  grace  of  Mrs.  Madison  or  the 
warm-hearted  hospitality  of  Mrs.  Tyler,  but  she  pre- 
sided over  the  White  House  with  great  dignity.  She 
was  of  medium  height  and  size,  with  very  black  hair, 
dark  eyes  and  complexion,  and  formal  yet  graceful  de- 
portment. At  the  inauguration  of  her  husband  she 
wore  a  black  silk  dress,  a  long  black  velvet  cloak  with 
a  deep  cape,  trimmed  with  fringe  and  tassels,  and  a 
purple  velvet  bonnet,  trimmed  with  satin  ribbon.  Her 
usual  style  of  dress  was  rich,  but  not  showy. 

Mrs.  Polk  would  not  permit  dancing  at  the  White 
House,  but  she  did  all  in  her  power  to  render  the  Ad- 
ministration popular.  One  morning  a  lady  found  her 
reading.  "I  have  many  books  presented  to  me  by  their 
writers,"  said  she,  "  and  I  try  to  read  them  all ;  at 
present  this  is  not  possible ;  but  this  evening  the 
author  of  this  book  dines  with  the  President,  and  I 
could  not  be  so  unkind  as  to  appear  wholly  ignorant 
and  unmindful  of  his  gift."  At  one  of  her  evening  re- 
ceptions a  gentleman  remarked,  "  Madame,  you  have  a 
very  genteel  assemblage  to-night."  "  Sir,"  replied  Mrs. 


332  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

Polk,  with  perfect  good  humor,  but  very  significantly, 
"  I  have  never  seen  it  otherwise." 

Mr.  James  Buchanan,  the  newly  appointed  Secretary 
of  State,  was  at  this  time  in  the  prime  of  life,  and 
his  stalwart  frame,  fair  complexion,  light  bjue  eyes, 
courtly  manners,  and  scrupulously  neat  attire  prompted 
an  Bnglish  visitor,  Mrs.  Maury,  to  say  that  he  re- 
sembled a  British  nobleman  of  the  past  generation, 
when  the  grave  and  dignified  bearing  of  men  in 
power  was  regarded  as  an  essential  attribute  of  their 
office.  Although  a  bachelor,  he  kept  house  on  F  Street, 
next  to  the  abode  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  where  his 
accomplished  niece  presided  at  his  hospitable  board. 
He  faithfully  carried  out  the  foreign  policy  of  President 
Polk,  but  never  let  pass  an  opportunity  for  advancing, 
with  refreshing  humility,  his  own  claims  to  the  succes- 
sion. In  a  letter  written  to  a  friend  he  alluded  to  a 
prediction  that  he  would  be  the  next  President,  and 
went  on  to  say :  "  I  or  any  other  man  may  disappear 
from  the  political  arena  without  producing  a  ripple 
upon  the  surface  of  the  deep  and  strong  current  which 
is  sweeping  the  country  to  its  destiny.  Nothing  has 
prevented  me  from  removing  myself  from  the  list 
of  future  candidates  for  the  Presidency,  except 
the  injury  this  might  do  to  the  Democratic  cause  in 
Pennsylvania.  On  this  subject  I  am  resolved,  and 
whenever  it  may  be  proper  I  shall  make  known  my 
resolution.  Nothing  on  earth  could  induce  me  again 
to  accept  a  Cabinet  appointment."  Yet  never  did  a 
wily  politician  more  industriously  plot  and  plan  to 
secure  a  nomination  than  Mr.  Buchanan  did,  in  his 
still-hunt  for  the  Presidency. 

William  Learned  Marcy,  the  Secretary  of  War,  was 
the  "  wheel-horse "  of  President  Folk's  Cabinet. 


The  Cabinet*1  s  "Wheel  Horse" 


333 


Heavily  built,  rather  sluggish  in  his  movements,  and 
always  absorbed  with  some  subject,  he  was  not  what  is 
generally  termed  "  companionable,"  and  neither  bores 
nor  office-seekers  regarded  him  as  an  amiable  man. 
He  used  to  write  his  most  important  dispatches  in  the 
library  of"  his  own  house.  When  thus  engaged  he 
would  at  once,  after  breakfast,  begin  his  work  and 
write  till  nearly  noon,  when  he  would  go  to  the  Depart- 
ment, receive  calls,  and 
attend  to  the  regular 
routine  duties  of  his 
position.  During 
hours  of  composition 
he  was  so  completely 
engrossed  with  the 
subject  that  persons 
might  enter,  go  out, 
or  talk  in  the  same 
room  without  in  the 
least  obtaining  his  no- 
tice. He  usually  sat 
in  his  dressing-gown, 
with  an  old  red  hand- 
kerchief on  the  table 
before  him,  and  one 
could  judge  of  the  relative  activity  of  his  mind  by  the 
frequency  of  his  application  to  the  snuff-box.  In  truth, 
he  was  an  inveterate  snuff-taker,  and  his  immoderate 
consumption  of  that  article  appeared  to  have  injuriously 
affected  his  voice. 

President  Polk,  anxious  to  placate  his  defeated  rival, 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  tendered  the  appointment  of  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  to  Silas  Wright.  He  declined  it,  hav- 
ing been  elected  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York, 


WILLIAM   LEARNED   MARCY. 


334 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


but  recommended  for  the  position  Mr.  A.  C.  Flagg.. 
Governor  Marcy  objected  to  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Flagg,  then  to  the  appointment  of  Mr.  George  Ban- 
croft, the  historian,  and  finally  accepted  himself  the 
place  of  Secretary  of  War.  Mr.  Robert  J.  Walker,  a 
Pennsylvanian  by  birth  and  a  Mississippian  by  adop- 
tion, who  had  in  the  United  States  Senate  advocated 
the  admission  of  Texas  and  opposed  the  protection  of 

American  industries 
by  a  high  tariff,  was 
made  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  Mr.  George 
Bancroft  was  appoint- 
ed Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  and  Cave  John- 
son, of  Tennessee,. 
Postmaster-General. 

Mr.  John  Y.  Mason,, 
who  had  been  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy  in 
Tyler's  Cabinet,  was 
retained  by  Polk  as 
his  Attorney-General, 
having  made  earnest 
appeals  that  he  might 
not  be  disturbed.  He  wrote  to  an  influential  friend 
at  Washington  that  he  desired  to  remain  in  office 
on  account  of  his  financial  wants.  "  Imprudence 
amounting  to  infatuation,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "  while 
in  Congress,  embarrassed  me,  and  I  am  barely  re- 
covering from  it.  The  place  is  congenial  to  my  feel- 
ings, and  the  salary  will  assist  Virginia  land  and 
negroes  in  educating  six  daughters.  Although  I  still 
own  a  large  estate,  and  am  perfectly  temperate  in  my 


ROBERT  J.  WALKER. 


Marcy  versus  Mason.  335 

habits,  I  have  felt  that  the  folly  of  my  conduct  in 
another  respect  may  have  led  to  the  report  that  I  was 
a  sot — an  unfounded  rumor,  which  originated  with  a 
Richmond  paper."  Governor  Marcy  used  to  joke  Mr. 
Mason  a  good  deal  on  the  forwardness  of  the  Old 
Dominion,  the  mother  of  Presidents,  in  urging  the 
claims  of  her  children  for  Federal  office — a  propensity 
which  was  amusingly  illustrated  at  a  private  dinner 
where  they  were  both  in  attendance.  "  How  strange 
it  is,  Mason,"  said  he,  "  that  out  of  the  thousands  of 
fat  appointments  we  have  had  to  make,  there  is  not 
one  that  Virginia  does  not  furnish  a  candidate  for,  and 
that  every  candidate  is  backed  up  by  the  strongest 
testimonials  that  he  was  expressly  educated  for  that 
particular  post!"  Mason  bore  the  joke  very  well, 
contenting  himself  with  the  observation  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States  seemed  to  know  where  to  look  for 
great  men. 

Mr.  Polk  had  been  elected  President  on  the  platform 
of  "  the  whole  of  Oregon  or  none,"  and  "  54°  40',  or 
fight."  But  Mr.  McLean,  who  was  sent  to  Bngland,. 
negotiated  a  treaty  fixing  the  boundary  at  49°,  and  "  54° 
40' "  was  abandoned  without  the  promised  fight. 
Another  troublesome  legacy  inherited  by  John  Tylei 
was  not  so  easily  arranged,  and  the  Mexican  War  was 
inaugurated.  To  the  more  intelligent  portion  of  the 
Northern  Whigs  the  contest  was  repulsive,  and  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  used  for  the  advancement  of 
Democratic  politicians  was  revolting.  But  few  forgot 
their  allegiance  to  this  country  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy.  Congress,  repeatedly  appealed  to  by  the  Presi- 
dent, voted  men  and  money  without  stint  to  secure 
the  national  success  and  to  maintain  the  national 
honor.  Whig  States,  which,  like  Massachusetts,  had 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

no  sympathy  for  the  war,  contributed  the  bravest  of 
their  sons,  many  of  whom,  like  a  son  of  Daniel 
Webster,  fell  victims  to  Mexican  malaria  or  Mexican 
bullets. 

While  President  Polk  endeavored  to  gratify  each  of 
the  component  factions  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the 
composition  of  his  Cabinet,  he  ruthlessly  deposed  the 
veteran  Francis  P.  Blair  from  the  editorship  of  the 
Globe  to  gratify  the  chivalry  of  South  Carolina,  who 
made  it  the  condition  upon  which  he  could  receive  the 
electoral  vote  of  their  State,  then  in  the  hands  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  controlled  by  the  politi- 
cians. Blair  &  Rives  had  loaned  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars to  General  Jackson,  who  was  very  indignant 
when  he  learned  that  his  old  friends  were  to  be  shelved, 
but  the  Nullifiers  were  inexorable.  The  Globe  ceased 
to  be  the  editorial  organ  of  the  Administration,  and 
"  Father  Ritchie,"  who  had  for  many  years  edited  the 
Richmond  Inquirer,  was  invited  to  Washington,  where 
he  established  the  Union,  which  became  the  mouth- 
piece of  President  Polk.  " The  Globe"  says  Colonel 
Benton,  "was  sold  and  was  paid  for;  it  was  paid  for 
out  of  public  money — the  same  fifty  thousand  dollars 
which  were  removed  to  the  village  bank  at  Middletown, 
in  the  interior  of  Pennsylvania.  Three  annual  install- 
ments made  the  payment,  and  the  Treasury  did  not 
reclaim  the  money  for  three  years." 

The  first  congressional  assembly  attended  by  Presi- 
dent Polk  was  graced  by  the  presence  of  General 
Felix  Grundy  McConnell,  of  Alabama,  who  appeared 
arrayed  in  a  blue  swallow-tailed  coat,  light  cassimere 
pantaloons,  and  a  scarlet  waistcoat.  His  female  ac- 
quaintances at  Washington  not  being  very  numerous, 
he  had  invited  to  accompany  him  two  good-looking 


An  Embarrassment.  337 

French  milliner  girls  from  a  shop  in  the  lower  story 
of  the  house  in  which  he  boarded.  The  young  women 
were  dressed  as  near  to  the  Parisian  style  of  ball  dress 
as  their  means  would  permit,  and  the  trio  attracted 
much  attention  as  they  promenaded  the  hall.  When 
the  President  arrived,  the  General  marched  directly  to 
him,  and  exclaimed  in  his  stentorian  voice :  "  Mr. 
Polk,  allow  me  the  honor  of  introducing  to  you  my 
beautiful  young  friend,  Mamselle — Mamselle — Mam- 
selle — parley  vous  Francais — whose  name  I  have  for- 
gotten !"  Then,  turning  to  the  other  lady,  he  asked, 
"  Will  you  introduce  your  friend  ?"  The  President, 
seeing  General  Mac's  embarrassment,  relieved  him  by 
shaking  hands  cordially  with  each  of  the  young  ladies. 


JAMES  KNOX  POLK  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  County,  North  Carolina,  November  26,  1795 ;  was 
a  Representative  in  Congress  from  Tennessee,  1825-1839  ;  was  Governor  of  Tennessee,  1839  >  was 
President  of  the  United  States,  1845-1849,  and  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  June  isth,  1849. 

22 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

DEATH   OF  JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS. 

WASHINGTON  SOCIETY — AN  OLD  WHIG  SUPPER — DEATH  OP  JOHN 
QUINCY  ADAMS — ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  IN  THE  HOUSE — JEFFERSON 
DAVIS  A  REPRESENTATIVE — THE  DEMOCRATIC  NOMINATION — LEWIS 
CASS,  OF  MICHIGAN — THE  WHIG  CONVENTION— DANIEL  WEBSTER 
AND  HENRY  CLAY — NOMINATION  OF  GENERAL  TAYLOR — LETTER 
OF  ACCEPTANCE — THE  FREE-SOIL  MOVEMENT — INCEPTION  OF  THE: 
GREAT  CONSPIRACY. 


THE  metropolis  was  not  very  gay  during  the 
latter  portion  of  Mr.  Folk's  Administration. 
There  were  the  usual  receptions  at  the  White 
House,  and  at  several  of  the  foreign  legations  the 
allowance  of  "table  money"  was  judiciously  ex- 
pended, but  there  were  not  many  large  evening  parties 
or  balls.  One  notable  social  event  was  the  marriage 
of  Colonel  Benton's  daughter  Sarah  to  Mr.  Jacob,  of 
Louisville.  The  bridegroom's  family  was  related  to 
the  Taylors  and  the  Clays,  so  Henry  Clay,  who  had 
been  re-elected  to  the  Senate,  was  present,  and  escorted 
the  bride  to  the  supper-table.  There  was  a  large 
attendance  of  Congressmen,  diplomats,  and  officials, 
but  the  absence  of  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  gen- 
erally so  prominent  at  a  Washington  entertainment, 
was  noticeable.  They  were  in  Mexico. 

Another   interesting    entertainment   was    given    by 
Colonel  Seaton,  at  his  mansion   on  E   Street,  to  the 
Whig  members  of  Congress  and  the  journalists.     The 
338 


Reunion  at  Colonel  Seatorfs.  339 

first  homage  of  nearly  all,  as  they  entered,  was  paid  to 
John  Quincy  Adams,  who  sat  upon  a  sofa,  his  form 
slightly  bowed  by  time,  his  eyes  weeping,  and  a  calm 
seriousness  in  his  expression.  Daniel  Webster  was 
not  present,  having  that  day  received  intelligence  of 
the  death  of  his  son  Edward,  who  was  major  of  a 
Massachusetts  regiment,  and  died  in  Mexico  of  camp- 
fever.  Henry  Clay,  however,  was  there,  with  kind 
words  and  pleasant 
smiles  for  all  his 
friends.  Crittenden, 
Corwin,  and  other 
Whig  Senatorial  pala- 
dins were  present,  and 
Mr.  Speaker  Win- 
throp,that  perfect  gen- 
tleman and  able  pre- 
siding officer,  headed 
a  host  of  talented  Rep- 
resentatives. Commo- 
dore Stockton  and 
General  Jones  repre- 
sented the  Army  and 
Navy,  while  Hrastus 

J  '  ROBERT  F.  STOCKTON. 

Brooks    and    Charles 

Lanman  appeared  for  the  press.  There  was  a  sumptuous 
collation,  with  much  drinking  of  healths  and  many 
pledges  to  the  success  of  the  Whig  cause. 

The  reunion  at  Colonel  Seaton's  was  on  Friday 
night,  February  i8th,  1848.  The  following  Sunday 
John  Quincy  Adams  attended  public  worship  at  the 
Capitol,  and  on  Monday,  the  2ist,  he  was,  as  usual,  in 
his  seat  when  the  House  was  called  to  order.  During 
the  preliminary  business  he  was  engaged  in  copying  a 


340 


Per  lev*  s  Reminiscences. 


poetical  invocation  to  the  muse  of  history  for  one  of 
the  officials,  and  he  appeared  to  be  in  ordinarily  good 
health.  A  resolve  of  thanks  to  the  generals  of  the 
Mexican  War  came  np,  and  the  clerk  had  read,  "  Re- 
solved by  the  House  that " — when  he  was  arrested  by 
the  cry  of  "  Look  to  Mr.  Adams  !"  Mr.  David  Fisher, 


'THE  LAST  OF  EARTH. 


of  Ohio,  who  occupied  the  desk  on  Mr.  Adams'  right, 
saw  him  rise  as  if  he  intended  to  speak ;  then  clutch 
his  desk  with  a  convulsive  effort,  and  sink  back  into 
his  chair.  Mr.  Fisher  caught  him  in  his  arms,  and  in 
an  instant  Dr.  Fries  and  Dr.  Nes,  both  members,  were 
At  his  side. 

It  was  a  solemn  moment,  for  a  cry  went  from  more 


"  The  Last  of  Earth."  341 

than  one,  "Mr.  Adams  is  dying!"  It  was  thought 
that,  like  Pitt,  he  would  give  up  the  ghost,  "with 
harness  on,"  on  the  spot  which  his  eloquence  had 
hallowed.  "Stand  back!1'  "Give  him  air!"  "Re- 
move him !"  Every  one  seemed  panic-struck  except 
Mr.  Speaker  Winthrop,  who  quietly  adjourned  the 
House,  and  had  his  insensible  colleague  removed  on  a 
sofa — first  into  the  rotunda,  and  then  into  the  Speaker's 
room.  Cupping,  mustard  poultices,  and  friction  were 
resorted  to,  and  about  an  hour  after  his  attack  Mr. 
Adams  said,  "  This  is  the  last  of  earth,  but  I  am  con- 
tent." He  then  fell  into  a  deep  slumber,  from  which 
he  never  awoke.  Mrs.  Adams  and  other  relatives  were 
with  him,  and  among  the  visitors  was  Henry  Clay, 
who  stood  for  some  time  with  the  old  patriarch's  hand 
clasped  in  his,  and  gazed  intently  on  the  calm  but 
vacant  countenance,  his  own  eyes  filled  with  tears. 
Mr.  Adams  lingered  until  the  evening  of  the  23d  of 
February,  when  he  breathed  his  last.  The  funeral 
services  were  very  imposing,  and  a  committee  of  one 
from  each  State  accompanied  the  remains  to  Boston, 
where  they  lay  in  state  at  Faneuil  Hall,  and  were 
then  taken  to  Quincy  for  interment.  The  Committee 
returned  to  Washington  enthusiastic  over  the  hospi- 
talities extended  to  them  while  they  were  in  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  member  of  the  last  Congress 
during  the  Polk  Administration.  He  made  no  mark 
as  a  legislator,  but  he  established  his  reputation  as  a 
story-teller,  and  he  was  to  be  found  every  morning  in 
the  post-office  of  the  House  charming  a  small  audience 
with  his  quaint  anecdotes.  Among  other  incidents  of 
his  own  life  which  he  used  to  narrate  was  his  military 
service  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  when  he  was  a  cap- 


342  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

tain  of  volunteers.  He  was  mustered  into  service  by 
Jefferson  Davis,  then  a  lieutenant  of  dragoons,  sta- 
tioned at  Fort  Dixon,  which  was  near  the  present  town 
of  Dixon,  Illinois,  and  was  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Zachary  Taylor.  Mr.  Lincoln  served  only  one 
term,  and  before  its  expiration  he  began  to  take  steps 
for  appointment  as  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land- 
office,  two  years  afterward,  should  the  Whigs  then 
come  into  power.  A  number  of  prominent  Whig  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  indorsed  his  application,  but 
he  was  not  successful. 

Mr.  Lincoln  made  but  one  long  speech  while  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  that  was  a 
reply  to  Mr.  Iverson,  a  Democratic  Representative 
from  Georgia,  who  denounced  the  Whigs  for  having 
deserted  their  financial,  internal  improvement,  and 
tariff  principles  to  take  "  shelter  under  the  military 
coat  tails  of  General  Taylor,"  who  was  evidently  to  be 
their  Presidential  candidate.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  the 
floor  for  the  next  speech,  and  with  his  characteristic 
readiness  of  wit,  made  a  telling  reply. 

Jefferson  Davis  was  a  Representative  from  Missis- 
sippi until  he  resigned  to  accept  the  command  of  a 
regiment  of  riflemen,  which  rendered  gallant  services 
at  Buena  Vista,  under  his  father-in-law,  General  Tay- 
lor, with  whom  he  was  not  at  that  time  on  speaking 
terms.  In  appearance  his  erect  bearing  recalled  his 
service  as  an  officer  of  dragoons,  while  his  square 
shoulders  and  muscular  frame  gave  proof  of  a  train- 
ing at  West  Point.  His  high  forehead  was  shaded 
by  masses  of  dark  hair,  in  which  the  silvery  threads 
began  to  show;  his  eyes  were  a  bluish-gray,  his  cheek- 
bones prominent,  his  nose  aquiline,  and  he  had  a  large, 
expressive  mouth.  He  was  an  ardent  supporter  of 


344 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


State  sovereignty  and  of  Southern  rights,  and  he  was 
very  severe  on  those  Congressmen  from  the  slave- 
holding  States  who  were  advocates  of  the  Union, 
especially  Mr.  A.  H.  Stephens,  whom  he  denounced  as 
"  the  little  pale  star  from  Georgia." 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  met  at  Balti- 
more on  the  22d  of  May,  1848.  There  was  a  pro- 
longed contest  over  the  rival  claims  of  delegates  from 

New  York,  terminated 
by  the  admission  of 
the  "hards."  General 
James  M.  Commander, 
the  solitary  delegate 
from  South  Carolina, 
was  authorized  to  cast 
the  nine  votes  of  that 
State.  The  two-thirds 
rule  was  adopted,  and 
on  the  fourth  day  of 
the  convention,  Lewis 
Cass,of  Michigan,  was 
nominated  on  the 
fourth  ballot,  defeating 
James  Buchanan  and 
Levi  Woodbury.  Hav- 
ing nominated  a  Northern  candidate,  a  Southern  plat- 
form was  adopted,  which  covered  the  entire  ground  of 
non-interference  with  the  rights  of  slave-holders,  either 
in  the  States  or  Territories. 

General  Cass  was  then  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of 
his  age,  and  had  passed  forty  years  in  the  public 
service.  His  knowledge  was  ample  but  not  profound. 
He  was  ignorant  on  no  subject,  and  was  deeply  versed 
on  none.  The  world  to  him  was  but  a  playhousej 


ALEXANDER   H.  STEVENS. 


Clay  Rejected.  345 

and  that  drama  with  him  was  best  which  was  best  per- 
formed. 

When  the  Whig  National  Convention  met  at  Phila- 
delphia, on  the  yth  of  June,  there  was  a  bitter  feeling; 
between  the  respective  friends  of  Webster  and  Clay> 
but  they  were  all  doomed  to  disappointment.  The 
Northern  delegates  to  the  Whig  National  Convention 
might  have  nominated  either  Webster,  Clay,  Scott,  or 
Corwin,  as  they  had  a  majority  of  fifty-six  over  the 
delegates  from  the  Southern  States,  and  cast  twenty- 
nine  votes  more  than  was  necessary  to  choose  a  candi- 
date. But  they  refused  to  unite  on  any  one,  and  on 
the  fourth  ballot  sixty-nine  of  them  voted  with  the 
Southern  Whigs  and  secured  the  nomination  of  Zach- 
ary  Taylor.  While  the  friends  of  Mr.  Clay  made  a 
desperate  rally  in  his  behalf,  knowing  that  it  was  his 
last  chance,  some  of  those  who  had  smarted  under  the 
lash  which  he  wielded  so  unsparingly  in  the  Senate  re- 
joiced over  his  defeat.  "Thank Providence!"  exclaimed! 
ex-Senator  Archer,  of  Virginia,  "we  have  got  rid  of  the 
old  tyrant  at  last." 

As  the  Whig  National  Convention  had  adjourned 
without  passing  a  single  declaration  of  the  party's 
principles,  General  Taylor's  letter  of  acceptance  was 
awaited  with  intense  interest.  It  was  believed 
that  he  would  outline  some  policy  which  would  be 
accepted  and  which  would  unite  the  Whig  party.  A 
month  elapsed,  and  no  letter  of  acceptance  was  received 
by  Governor  Morehead,  who  had  presided  over  the 
Convention,  but  the  Postmaster  at  Baton  Rouge,  where 
General  Taylor  lived,  addressed  the  Postmaster-General 
a  letter,  saying  that  with  the  report  for  the  current 
quarter  from  that  office,  two  bundles  of  letters  were 
forwarded  for  the  Dead-Letter  Office,  they  having  been 


246  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

declined  on  account  of  the  non-payment  of  the  postage 
by  the  senders.  It  was  in  the  ten-cent  and  non-prepay- 
ment time.  Of  the  forty-eight  letters  thus  forwarded 
to  the  Dead-Letter  Office,  the  Baton  Rouge  Postmaster 
said  a  majority  were  addressed  to  General  Taylor,  who 
had  declined  to  pay  the  postage  on  them  and  take  them 
out  of  the  office,  because  his  mail  expenses  had  become 
burdensome.  The  General  had  since  become  aware 
that  some  of  the  letters  were  of  importance,  and  asked 
for  their  return.  In  due  course,  the  letters  were  sent 
back  to  Baton  Rouge,  and  among  them  was  Governor 
Morehead's  letter  notifying  the  General  of  the  action  of 
the  Philadelphia  Convention. 

General  Taylor's  letter  of  acceptance  was  thus  dated 
a  month  and  five  days  after  the  letter  of  notification 
had  been  written.  It  was  "  short  and  sweet."  He  ex- 
pressed his  thanks  for  the  nomination,  said  he  did  not 
seek  it,  and  that  if  he  were  elected  President,  for  which 
position  he  did  not  think  he  possessed  the  requisite 
qualifications,  he  would  do  his  best.  He  discussed 
nothing,  laid  down  no  principles,  and  gave  no  indica- 
tions of  the  course  he  would  pursue.  Thurlow  Weed, 
who  had  assumed  the  direction  of  the  Whig  campaign, 
was  not  satisfied  with  this  letter,  and  sent  the  draft  of 
another  one,  more  explicit,  and  indorsed  by  Mr.  Fill- 
more.  This  General  Taylor  had  copied,  and  signed 
it  as  a  letter  addressed  to  his  kinsman,  Captain  Alli- 
son. In  it  he  pledged  himself  fully  to  Whig  princi- 
ples, and  it  was  made  the  basis  of  an  effective  cam- 
paign. 

Mr.  Webster,  who  at  first  denounced  the  nomination 
as  one  "  not  fit  to  be  made,"  was  induced,  by  the  pay- 
ment of  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  to  make  a 
speech  in  favor  of  the  ticket.  Nathaniel  P.  Willis 


Van  Buren  and  Adams. 


347 


wrote  a  stirring  campaign  song,  and  at  the  request  of 
Thurlow  Weed,  the  writer  of  these  reminiscences  wrote 
a  campaign  life  of  the  General,  large  editions  of  which 
were  published  at  Boston  and  at  Albany  for  gratuitous 
distribution.  It  ignored  the  General's  views  on  the 
anti-slavery  question.  Meanwhile,  the  Massachusetts 
Abolitionists  and  ultra-Webster  men,  with  the  Barn- 
burner wing  of  the  Democratic  party  in  New  York, 
and  several  other  dis- 
affected factions,  met 
in  convention  at  Buf- 
falo. They  there  nom- 
inated Martin  Van  Bu- 
ren for  President  and 
Mr.  Charles  Francis 
Adams  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  and  adopted  as  a 
motto,  "  Free  Speech, 
Free  Soil,  Free  Labor, 
and  Free  Men."  This 
party  attracted  enough 
votes  from  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket  in  the 
State  of  New  York  to 
secure  the  triumph  of 
the  Whigs,  and  Martin  Van  Buren,  who  had  been  de- 
feated by  the  Southern  Democrats,  had  in  return  the 
satisfaction  of  effecting  their  defeat. 

Mr.  Calhoun,  soured  by  his  successive  failures,  but 
not  instructed  by  them,  sought  revenge.  "  The  last 
days  of  Mr.  Folk's  Administration,"  says  Colonel  Ben- 
ton,  "  were  witness  to  an  ominous  movement,  nothing 
less  than  nightly  meetings  of  large  numbers  of  mem- 
bers from  the  slave  States  to  consider  the  state  of 


THURLOW  WEED. 


348  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

things  between  the  North  and  the  South,  to  show  the 
aggressions  and  encroachments  (as  they  were  called) 
of  the  former  upon  the  latter,  to  show  the  incompati- 
bility of  their  union,  and  to  devise  measures  for  the 
defense  and  protection  of  the  South." 


HENRY  STUART  FOOTS  was  born  iu  Fauquier  County,  Virginia,  September  2oth,  1800  ;  commenced 
the  practice  of  law  at  Tuscumbia,  Alabama,  and  removed  to  Mississippi ;  was  United  States  Senator, 
1847-1852  ;  was  Governor  of  Mississippi,  1852-1854,  and  died  May  igth,  1880. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MAKING  THE    MOST  OF    POWER. 

PRESIDENT  TAYLOR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  SECRETARY— SELECTION  OF  THE 
TAYLOR  CABINET — THE  TAYLOR  FAMILY— JEFFERSON  DAVIS — INAUGU- 
RATION CEREMONIES— OFFICE  SEEKERS— PATRONAGE  AND  SPOILS — 
THE  GALPHIN,  GARDINER,  AND  OTHER  CLAIMS — THE  TAYLOR  ADMIN- 
ISTRATION—THE WHITE  HOUSE. 

GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR  was,  of  all 
who  have  filled  the  Presidential  chair  by  the 
choice  of  the  people,  the  man  least  competent 
to  perform  its  duties.  He  had  been  placed  before  his 
countrymen  as  a  candidate  in  spite  of  his  repeated 
avowals  of  incapacity,  inexperience,  and  repugnance 
to  all  civil  duties.  Although  sixty-four  years  of  age, 
he  had  never  exercised  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  he 
was  well  aware  that  he  was  elected  solely  because  of 
his  military  prowess.  But  no  sooner  did  he  learn  that 
he  had  been  chosen  President  than  he  displayed  the 
same  .invincible  courage,  practical  sense,  and  indomi- 
table energy  in  the  discharge  of  his  new  and  arduous 
civil  duties  which  had  characterized  his  military  career. 
The  President-elect  was  fortunate  in  having  as  a 
companion,  counselor,  and  friend  Colonel  William 
Wallace  Bliss,  who  had  served  as  his  chief  of  staff  in 
the  Mexican  campaign,  and  who  became  the  husband 
of  his  favorite  daughter,  Miss  Betty.  Colonel  Bliss 
was  the  son  of  Captain  Bliss,  of  the  regular  army,  and 
after  having  been  reared  in  the  State  of  New  York  he 

349 


350 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


was  graduated  at  West  Point,  where  he  served  after- 
ward as  acting  professor  of  mathematics. 

On  his  way  to  Washington  from  his  Louisiana  plan- 
tation, General  Taylor  visited  Frankfort,  and  person- 
ally invited  Mr.  John  J.  Crittcnden,  then  Governor  of 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR. 


Kentucky,  to  become  his  Secretary  of  State.  Governor 
Crittenden  declined,  and  General  Taylor  then  tele- 
graphed to  Mr.  John  M.  Clayton,  of  Delaware,  tender- 
ing him  the  position,  which  that  gentleman  promptly 
accepted. 

Mr.  Abbott  L/awrence,  of  Boston,  solicited  the  ap- 


More  Cabinet  Making. 


35* 


pointment  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  was  offered 
the  Navy  Department,  which  he  declined.  Mr.  Robert 
Toombs,  supported  by  Representative  Stephens  and 
Senator  Dawson,  succeeded  in  having  Mr.  George  W. 
Crawford,  of  Georgia,  appointed  Secretary  of  War. 

Mr.  William  M.  Meredith,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  rather 
forced  upon  General  Taylor  as  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury by  Mr.  Clayton  and  other  Whigs,  partly  on  ac- 
count of  his  acknowl- 
edged talents,  but 
chiefly  to  exclude  ob- 
jectionable  Pennsyl- 
vanians,  among  them 
Mr.  Josiah  Randall, 
who,  more  than  any 
other,  had  contributed 
to  the  nomination  and 
election  of  the  Gene- 
ral. A  contest  between 
Messrs.  Corwin  and 
Viiiton,  of  Ohio,  for  a 
seat  in  the  Cabinet 
was  settled  by  the 
appointment  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Ewing,  of  that 
State,  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  Mr.  Jacob  Collamer, 
of  Vermont,  who  had  been  an  unsuccessful  competitor 
with  Mr.  Upham  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  and  had  been 
recommended  by  the  Legislature  of  his  State  as  Attor- 
ney-General, was  made  Postmaster-General. 

General  Taylor  came  to  Washington  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  he  was  politically  indebted  to  George 
Lunt,  of  Massachusetts,  and  William  Ballard  Preston, 
of  Virginia.  He  appointed  Mr.  Lunt  District  Attor- 


THOMAS   EWING. 


Per  ley's   Reminiscences. 


ney  for  the  district  of  Massachusetts,  and  it  was  soon 
understood  that  he  proposed  to  invite  Mr.  Preston  to  a 
seat  in  his  Cabinet  as  Attorney-General.  The  Whig 
Senators  remonstrated,  urging  Preston's  lack  of  great 
legal  ability  and  learning,  but  all  to  no  purpose. 
Finally  Senator  Archer,  of  Virginia,  called  and  asked 
if  there  was  any  foundation  for  the  report  that  his 
friend  Preston  was  to  be  made  Attorney-General. 

"Yes!"  answered  Gen- 
eral Taylor,  "  I  have 
determined  on  that  ap- 
pointment." "Are  you 
aware,  General,"  said 
the  Senator,  "  that  the 
Attorney -General 
must  represent  the 
Government  in  the  Su- 
preme Court?"  "Of 
course ! ' '  responded  the 
General.  "  But  do 
youknowthat  he  must 
there  meet  Daniel 
Webster,  Reverdy 
Johnson,  and  other 
leading  lawyers  ?" 
"Certainly.  What  of  that?"  "Nothing,  General, 
except  that  they  will  make  a  blank  fool  of  your  Attor- 
ney-General." The  Virginia  Senator  then  took  his 
leave,  and  the  next  morning's  papers  contained  the  an- 
nouncement that  the  President  had  decided  to  appoint 
Mr.  Preston  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  Mr.  Reverdy 
Johnson  Attorney-General. 

Mrs.  Taylor  regretted  the  election  of  her  husband, 
and  came  to  Washington  with  a  heavy  heart.     She 


REVERDY  JOHNSON. 


Taylors  Inauguration.  353 

was  a  native  of  Calvert  County,  Maryland,  and  was 
born  on  the  estate  where  the  father  of  Mrs.  John 
Quincy  Adams  had  formerly  resided.  Her  father,  Mr. 
Walter  Smith,  was  a  highly  respectable  farmer,  and 
her  brother,  Major  Richard  Smith,  of  the  Marine  Corps, 
was  well  remembered  at  Washington  for  his  gallant 
bearing  and  his  social  qualities.  The  eldest  daughter 
of  General  Taylor  had  married  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis.  A 
second  daughter  was  the  wife  of  Dr.  Wood,  of  the 
army,  who  was  at  that  time  stationed  at  Baltimore,  as 
was  General  Taylor's  brother,  Colonel  Taylor.  Mrs. 
Taylor,  with  her  younger  daughter,  Mrs.  Bliss,  went 
directly  from  Louisiana  to  Baltimore  some  weeks  prior 
to  the  inauguration.  They  broke  up  housekeeping  at 
Baton  Rouge,  and  took  with  them  William  Oldham,  a 
faithful  colored  man,  who  had  been  the  body-servant  of 
General  Taylor  for  many  years,  the  parade  horse, 
"  Old  Whitey,"  which  he  had  ridden  in  the  Mexican 
campaign,  and  a  favorite  dog. 

General  Taylor  was  inaugurated  on  Monday,  M^ch 
5th.  He  was  escorted  from  Willard's  Hotel  by  an 
imposing  procession,  headed  by  twelve  volunteer  com- 
panies. The  President-elect  rode  in  an  open  carriage 
drawn  by  four  gray  horses,  and  he  was  joined  at  the 
Irving  House  by  President  Polk,  who  sat  at  his  right 
hand.  One  hundred  young  gentlemen,  residents  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  mounted  on  spirited  horses, 
formed  a  body-guard,  and  kept  the  crowd  from  pressing 
around  the  President's  carriage.  Then  came  the 
"  Rough-and-Ready "  clubs  of  Washington,  George- 
town, Alexandria,  and  Baltimore,  with  banners,  badges, 
and  music,  while  the  students  of  the  Georgetown  Col- 
lege brought  up  the  rear. 

The  personal  appearance  of  General  Taylor  as  he 

23 


354 


Per  ley  s  Reminiscences. 


read  his  inaugural  address  from  a  platform  erected  in 
front  of  the  eastern  portico  of  the  Capitol  was  not 
imposing.  His  figure  was  somewhat  portly,  and  his 
legs  were  short ;  his  thin,  gray  hair  was  unbrushed ; 
his  whiskers  were  of  the  military  cut  then  prescribed ; 
his  features  were  weather-bronzed  and  care-furrowed, 
and  he  read  almost  inaudibly.  It  was  evident,  how- 
ever, that  he  was  a  popular  favorite,  and  when  he  had 
concluded  the  vociferous  cheering  of  the  assembled 


NEW  COLLEGE  OF  GEORGETOWN. 


thousands  was  answered  by  the  firing  of  cannon  and 
the  music  of  the  bands.  His  praises  were  on  all  lips, 
and  his  soubriquets  of  "  Rough  and  Ready  "  and  "  Old 
Zach."  were  sounded  with  all  honor. 

The  inaugural  message  showed  that  General  Taylor 
regarded  the  Union  as  in  danger,  and  that  he  intended 
to  use  every  possible  exertion  for  its  preservation.  Mr. 
Calhoun  had  requested,  through  Mr.  Clayton,  that 
nothing  should  be  said  in  the  inaugural  on  this  subject, 
which  had  prompted  the  addition  of  a  paragraph,  in 
which  the  incoming  President  declared  that  a  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Union  would  be  the  greatest  of  calamities, 


What  one  Bone  Does.  355 

and  went  on  to  say  :  "  Whatever  dangers  may  threaten 
it,  I  shall  stand  by  it,  and  maintain  it  in  its  integrity, 
to  the  full  extent  of  the  obligations  imposed  and  the 
power  conferred  upon  me  by  the  Constitution." 

In  December,  1849,  when  Congress  assembled,  the 
President  aroused  the  violent  opposition  of  Southern 
members  by  recommending,  in  his  message,  that  Cali- 
fornia be  admitted  as  a  free  State,  and  that  the  remain- 
ing Territories  be  allowed  to  form  Constitutions  to  suit 
themselves.  So  indignant  were  some  of  the  Southern- 
ers that  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  was  openly 
threatened.  To  allay  this  agitation  Clay's  comprom- 
ise measures  were  proposed,  but  Taylor  did  not  live  to 
see  the  bill  passed. 

The  horde  of  office-seekers  which  invaded  Washing- 
ton after  the  inauguration  of  President  Taylor  recalled 
the  saying  of  John  Randolph,  when  it  was  asserted 
that  the  patronage  of  the  Federal  Government  was 
overrated ;  "  I  know,"  said  the  sarcastic  Virginian, 
"  that  it  may  be  overrated.;  I  know  that  we  cannot 
give  to  those  who  apply  offices  equal  to  their  expec- 
tations ;  and  I  also  know  that  with  one  bone  I  can  call 
five  hundred  dogs."  The  Democratic  motto,  that  "  To 
the  victors  belong  the  spoils/'  was  adopted  by  the 
Taylor  Administration.  Unexceptionable  men  were  re- 
moved from  office,  that  their  places  might  be  filled 
with  officers  of  Rough  and  Ready  clubs  or  partisan 
orators.  Veterans  like  General  Armstrong,  and  even 
the  gifted  Hawthorne,  were  "  rotated  "  without  mercy 
from  the  offices  which  they  held.  In  the  Post-Office 
Department  alone,  where  Mr.  Fitz  Henry  Warren,  as 
Assistant  Postmaster-General,  worked  the  political  guil- 
lotine, there  were  three  thousand  four  hundred  and  six 
removals  during  the  first  year  of  the  Taylor  Adminis- 


356  Per iey 's  Reminiscences. 

tration,  besides  many  hundred  clerks  and  employees  in 
the  post-offices  of  the  larger  cities. 

In  the  dispensation  of  "  patronage  "  there  was  a  dis- 
play of  shameless  nepotism.  A  brother-in-law  of  Sen- 
ator Webster  was  made  Navy  Agent  at  New  York. 
Sons  of  Senators  Crittenden,  Clay,  and  Davis  received 
important  appointments  abroad,  and  the  son-in-law  of 
Senator  Calhoun  was  retained  in  the  diplomatic  service. 
Two  sons-in-law  of  Senator  Benton  were  offered  high 
places.  A  nephew  of  Senator  Truman  Smith  was 
made  one  of  the  United  States  Judges  in  Minnesota, 
and  a  nephew  of  Secretary  Clayton  was  made  purser 
at  the  Washington  Nayy  Yard.  The  assurance  of  the 
President  that  he  had  "no  friends  to  reward "  was 
apparently  forgotten,  and  he  was  hedged  in  by  a  little 
circle  of  executive  councilors,  who  ruled  all  things. 

While  the  Administration  was  profligate  in  its  abuse 
of  patronage,  the  conduct  of  several  of  the  Secretaries 
was  such  as  to  give  the  President  great  uneasiness  as 
he  became  acquainted  with  what  was  going  on.  Old 
claims  were  revived,  approved  by  the  Secretaries,  and 
paid.  Prominent  among  them  was  the  Galphin  claim, 
the  Chickasaw  claim,  the  De  la  Francia  claim,  the  Gardi- 
ner claim,  and  many  others.  From  the  Galphin  claim 
Mr.  Crawford,  Secretary  of  War,  received  as  his  share 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The  law- 
yers in  Congress  declared  that  the  Secretary  acted 
professionally,  but  others  censured  him  severely. 
Judge  Cartter,  then  a  Representative  from  Ohio,  was 
severe  in  his  comments  on  the  monstrous  corruption  of 
the  allowance  of  interest,  the  payment  of  which  he 
said  that  he  disliked  "  both  as  an  exaction  on  the  part 
of  the  capitalists,  and  on  account  of  its  origin  with  the 
Jews,  who  killed  the  Saviour." 


Old  Zach's  Appearance. 


357 


President  Taylor,   although  a  Southerner  by  birth 
and  a  slave-owner,  took  prompt  steps  to  thwart   the 
schemes    of    Mr.    Calhoun    and    his    fellow-conspira- 
tors.     Military   officers 
were  ordered  to  California, 
Utah,  and  New  Mexico, 
which    had    no    govern- 
ments but  lynch  law;  and 
the   people    of    the   last- 
named    province,    which 
had  been  settled  two  hun- 
dred years  before  Texas  /! 
asserted      her      indepen-  J 
dence,  were  assured  that  j/ 
her     domain    would     be 
guaranteed  by  the  United 
States    against  the  claim 
of  the  Lone  Star  State. 

Socially,  President  Tay- 
lor enjoyed  himself,  and 
he  used  to  take  morning 
walks  through  the  streets 
of  Washington,  wearing 
a  high  black  silk  hat 
perched  on  the  back  of 
his  head,  and  a  suit  of 
black  broadcloth,  much 
too  large  for  him,  but 
made  in  obedience  to  his 
orders,  that  he  might  be 

ATA        -i          PRESIDENT  TAYLOR  ON   THE  STREET. 

comfortable.   Mrs.  Taylor 

used  to  sit  patiently  all  day  in  her  room,  plying  her 
knitting-needles,  and  occasionally,  it  was  said,  smok- 
ing her  pipe.  Mrs.  Bliss  was  an  excellent  housekeeper, 


358  Per  ley?  s  Reminiscences. 

and  the  introduction  of  gas  into  the  Executive  Man- 
sion, with  new  furniture  and  carpets,  enabled  her  to 
give  it  a  more  creditable  appearance.  It  was  said  that 
she  did  the  honors  of  the  establishment  "  with  the  art- 
lessness  of  a  rustic  belle  and  the  grace  of  a  duchess." 
General  Taylor  found  it  difficult  to  accustom  himself 
to  the  etiquette  and  the  restraint  of  his  new  position. 
One  day  when  the  bachelor  ex-Secretary  of  State  called 
with  a  number  of  fair  Pennsylvania  friends  to  present 
them  to  the  President,  General  Taylor  remarked,  "  Ah  ! 
Mr.  Buchanan,  you  always  pick  out  the  prettiest 
ladies !"  "  Why,  Mr.  President,"  was  the  courtly 
reply,  "  I  know  that  your  taste  and  mine  agree  in  that 
respect."  "  Yes,"  said  General  Taylor,  "  but  I  have 
been  so  long  among  Indians  and  Mexicans  that  I 
hardly  know  how  to  behave  myself,  surrounded  by  so 
many  lovely  women." 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR  was  born  in  Orange  County,  Virginia,  November  24th,  1784  ;  never  cast  a  vote 
or  held  a  civil  office  until  he  was  inaugurated  as  President,  March  5th,  1849  ;  died  at  the  White 
House,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  July  gth,  1850. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  GREAT  COMPROMISE  DEBATE. 

STORMY  SCENES  AT  THE  CAPITOL,— CRIMINATION  AND  RECRIMINATION- 
TAYLOR'S  ONLY  MESSAGE— RETURN  OF  MR.  CLAY  TO  THE  SENATE — 
THE  GREAT  COMPROMISE  DEBATE — WEBSTER'S  SEVENTH  OF  MARCH 
SPEECH— THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  CALHOUN— JEFFERSON  DAVIS'  LEADER- 
SHIP -JOHN  P.  HALE,  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

THE  Thirty-first  Congress,  which  met  on  the  first 
Monday  in  the  December  following  the  inaug- 
uration of  President  Taylor,  contained  many 
able  statesmen  of  national  prominence.  The  organiza- 
tion of  the  House  was  a  difficult  task,  nine  "  free-soil " 
or  anti-slavery  Whigs  from  the  North,  and  six  "  State- 
rights  "  or  pro-slavery  Whigs  from  the  South,  refusing 
to  vote  for  that  accomplished  gentleman,  Mr.  Robert 
C.  Winthrop,  who  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  Speaker. 
On  the  first  ballot,  Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  had  one 
hundred  and  three  votes,  against  ninety-six  votes  for 
Robert  C.  Winthrop,  eight  votes  for  David  Wilmot, 
six  votes  for  Meredith  P.  Gentry,  two  votes  for  Horace 
Mann,  and  a  number  of  scattering  votes.  The  tellers 
announced  that  there  was  no  choice,  and  the  balloting 
was  continued  day  after  day,  amid  great  and  increasing 
excitement.  After  the  thirty-ninth  ballot,  Mr.  Win- 
throp withdrew  from  the  contest,  expressing  his  belief 
that  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  Union  demanded  that 
an  organization  of  some  sort  should  be  effected  without 
delay. 

359 


36° 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


The  Southern  Whigs  who  had  opposed  Mr..  Win- 
throp  were  vehement  and  passionate  in  their  denunciation 
of  the  North.  "  The  time  has  come,"  said  Mr.  Toombs, 
his  black,  uncombed  hair  standing  out  from  his  mas- 
sive head,  as  if  charged  with  electricity,  his  eyes  glow- 
ing like  coals  of  fire,  and  his  sentences  rattling  forth 
like  volleys  of  musketry — "  the  time  has  come,"  said 
he,  "  when  I  shall  not  only  utter  my  opinions,  but 

make  them  the  basis 
of  my  political  action 
here.  I  do  not,  then, 
hesitate  to  avow  before 
this  House  and  the 
country,  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  living 
God,  that  if,  by  your 
legislation,  you  seek 
to  drive  us  from  the 
Territories  of  Califor- 
nia and  New  Mexico, 
and  to  abolish  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, I  am  for  dis- 
union; and  if  my  phys- 
ical courage  be  equal 
to  the  maintenance  of  my  convictions  of  right  and  duty, 
I  will  devote  all  I  am  and  all  I  have  on  earth  to  its  con- 
summation." 

Such  inflammatory  remarks  provoked  replies,  and 
after  a  heated  debate  Mr.  Duer,  of  New  York,  remarked 
that  he  "  would  never,  under  any  circumstances,  -vote 
to  put  a  man  in  the  Speaker's  chair  who  would,  in  any 
event,  advocate  or  sanction  a  dissolution  of  the  Union." 
This  brought  a  dozen  Southerners  to  their  feet  with 


HOWELL  COBB. 


Bad  Blood  in  the  House.  361 

angry  exclamations,  and  Mr.  Bayly,  of  Virginia,  who* 
was  near  Mr.  Duer,  said,  "  There  are  no  disunionists." 
"  There  are  !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Duer.  "  Name  one  !" 
shouted  Mr.  Bayly.  At  that  moment  Mr.  Meade,  of 
Virginia,  rose  and  passed  directly  before  Mr.  Duer, 
who  pointed  to  him  and  shouted,  "  There's  one  !"  "  It 
is  false  !"  replied  Mr.  Meade,  angrily.  "  You  lie,  sir!" 
responded  Mr.  Duer,  in  tones  which  rang  through  the 
hall ;  and,  drawing  himself  up,  he  stood  unmoved, 
while  his  political  friends  and  foes  clustered  angrily 
about  him,  every  man  of  them  talking  and  gesticula- 
ting most  furiously. 

Fortunately,  Mr.  Nathan  Sergeant  (known  as  a 
newspaper  correspondent  over  the  signature  of  Oliver 
Oldschool),  who  was  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the 
House,  was  in  his  seat  at  the  Speaker's  right  hand. 
Seizing  the  "  mace,"  which  represents  the  Roman 
fasces,  or  bundle  of  rods,  bound  by  silver  bands  and 
surmounted  by  an  eagle  with  outstretched  wings, 
which  is  the  symbol  of  the  authority  of  the  House,  he 
hastened  to  Mr.  Duer  and  stood  at  his  side,  as  if  to  pro- 
tect him.  His  official  interposition  was  immediately 
respected  by  all  concerned  in  the  disorder,  and  even  the 
most  tumultuous  began  at  once  to  subside,  so  that  no 
forcible  measures  were  needed  to  prevent  further  violence. 

Quiet  was  restored,  and  the  excited  Representatives, 
one  by  one,  obeyed  the  sharp  raps  of  the  Speaker's 
gavel,  accompanied  by  the  peremptory  order,  "  Gentle- 
men will  take  their  seats."  Mr.  Duer,  who  had  recov^ ' 
ered  his  usual  composure,  then  addressed  the  Chair, 
and  having  been  recognized,  apologized  to  the  House 
for  having  been  provoked  into  the  use  of  the  unparlia- 
mentary expression,  but  justified  himself  by  referring 
to  a  speech  which  Mr.  Meade  had  just  made  and  printed, 


362  Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

which  contained  disunion  sentiments.  Mr.  Meade 
promptly  challenged  Mr.  Duer,  who  showed  no  indis- 
position to  fight,  but  with  some  difficulty  friends  se- 
cured an  amicable  settlement  of  the  quarrel. 

Finally,  after  three  weeks  of  angry  recrimination,  it 
was  voted  that  a  plurality  should  elect,  and  on  the 
sixty-second  ballot  Mr.  Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  hav- 
ing received  one  hundred  and  two  votes  against  one 
hundred  votes  for  Mr.  Winthrop,  was  declared  the 
Speaker  of  the  House.  He  did  not  have  that  sense  of 
personal  dignity  and  importance  which  belonged  to  Sir 
John  Falstaff  by  reason  of  his  knighthood,  but  he  dis- 
played the  same  rich  exuberance  of  animal  enjoyment, 
the  same  roguish  twinkle  of  the  eye,  and  the  same  in- 
dolence which  characterized  the  fat  Knight. 

President  Taylor's  first  and  only  message  to  Con- 
gress was  transmitted  on.  the  Monday  following  the  or- 
ganization of  the  House,  December  24th,  and  the 
printed  copies  first  distributed  contained  the  sentence, 
"  We  are  at  peace  with  all  the  nations  of  the  world 
and  the  rest  of  mankind."  A  revised  edition  was  soon 
printed,  in  which  the  corrected  sentence  read,  "We  are 
at  peace  with  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  seek  to 
maintain  our  cherished  relations  of  amity  with  them." 
The  blunder  caused  much  diversion  among  the  Demo- 
crats, and  greatly  annoyed  Colonel  Bliss,  who,  as  the 
President's  private  secretary,  had  superintended  the 
publication  of  the  message.  The  message  contained 
no  allusion  to  the  slavery  question,  but  the  President 
had  declared  himself  in  favor  of  the  untrameled  admis- 
sion of  California  into  the  Union,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  did  not  approve  the  "  higher  law  "  doctrines 
which  Mr.  Seward  was  advocating  as  a  nucleus  for  a 
new  political  party  at  the  North. 


Clay  at  Seventy-three.  363 

Meanwhile,  Henry  Clay  had  reappeared  at  Washing- 
ton as  a  Senator  from  Kentucky,  and  occupied  his  old 
quarters  at  the  National  Hotel,  a  large  stockholder  in 
which,  Mr.  Calvert,  of  Maryland,  was  one  of  Clay's 
many  friends.  Although  in  his  seventy-third  year, 
Mr.  Clay  was  apparently  hale  and  hearty,  but  showed 
his  age.  His  head,  bald  on  the  top,  was  fringed  with 
long,  iron-gray  hair,  his  cheeks  were  somewhat  sunken, 
his  nose  had  a  pinched  look,  but  his  wide  mouth  was, 
as  in  years  past,  wreathed  in  genial  smiles.  He  always 
was  dressed  in  black,  and  from  a  high  black  satin 
stock,  which  enveloped  his  long  neck,  emerged  a  huge 
white  shirt  collar,  which  reached  to  his  ears.  He 
mingled  in  society,  generally  kissed  the  prettiest  girls 
wherever  he  went,  and  enjoyed  a  quiet  game  of  cards 
in  his  own  room,  with  a  glass  of  toddy  made  from 
Bourbon  County  whisky. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  session  Mr.  Clay  re- 
quested that  he  might  be  excused  from  service  on  any 
of  the  standing  committees  of  the  Senate,  and  his 
wish  was  granted.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before 
he  evinced  a  desire  to  re-enter  the  arena  of  debate  as  a 
leader  of  the  Whig  party,  but  not  «as  a  follower  of 
President  Taylor.  Presenting  a  series  of  resolutions 
which  would  consolidate  the  settlement  of  the  eight 
different  questions  involving  slavery,  then  before  Con- 
gress, into  what  he  expected  would  prove  a  lasting 
compromise,  he  moved  their  reference  to  a  select  com- 
mittee of  thirteen,  with  instructions  to  report  them  in 
one  bill.  The  Committee  was  authorized,  but  not 
without  opposition,  and  Mr.  Webster's  vote  secured 
for  Mr.  Clay  the  chairmanship.  A  general  compro- 
mise bill  was  speedily  prepared,  and  the  "  battle  of  the 
giants "  was  recommenced,  Clay,  Webster,  and  Cal- 


364  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

houn  engaging  for  the  last  time  in  a  gladiatorial  strife, 
which  exhibited  the  off-hand,  genial  eloquence  of  the 
Kentuckian,  the  ponderous  strength  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Senator,  and  the  concentrated  energies  of  South 
Carolina's  favorite  son.  Mr.  Clay  was  the  leader  in 
the  debate,  which  extended  over  seven  months,  and 
during  that  time  he  was  ever  on  the  alert,  sometimes 
delivering  a  long  argument,  sometimes  eloquently 
replying  to  other  Senators,  and  sometimes  suggesting 
points  to  some  one  who  was  to  speak  on  his  side.  Indig- 
nant at  the  treatment  which  he  had  received  from  the 
Whig  party  he  stood  unsubdued,,  and  so  far  from  re- 
treating from  those  who  had  deserted  him,  he  intended 
to  make  the  Taylor  Administration  recall  its  pledges, 
break  its  promises,  and  become  national,  or  pro-slavery, 
Whigs. 

Mr.  Webster  was  equally  grieved  and  saddened  by 
the  faithlessness  of  Massachusetts  men  who  had  in 
years  past  professed  friendship  for  him,  but  of  whose 
machinations  against  him  he  had  obtained  proof  dur- 
ing the  preceding  autumn.  He  also  ascertained  that, 
to  use  the  words  of  Mr.  Choate,  "  the  attention  of  the 
public  mind  beg^n  to  be  drawn  a  little  more  directly 
to  the  great  question  of  human  freedom  and  human 
slavery."  If  he  responded  to  the  beatings  of  the  New 
Hngland  heart,  and  resisted  the  aggressions  and  usur- 
pations of  the  slave  power,  he  would  have  to  follow 
the  lead  of  the  Abolitionists,  for  whom  he  had  always 
expressed  a  profound  contempt.  Dejected  and  de- 
pressed, Mr.  Webster  would  at  that  time  have  been 
glad  to  take  tne  mission  to  Hngland,  and  thus  termi- 
nate his  career  of  public  service ;  but  he  was  defeated 
by  the  claims  of  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence,  who,  having 
been  recently  disappointed  in  not  receiving  the  appoint- 


Web  sterns  Forebodings.  365 

ment  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  refused  to  be  com- 
forted unless  he  could  be  the  successor  of  George 
Bancroft  at  the  Court  of  St.  James. 

Thaddeus  Stevens  and  Joshua  R.  Giddings  asserted, 
after  the  decease  of  Mr.  Webster,  that  he  prepared  a 
speech,  the  manuscript  of  which  they  had  read,  which 
was  a  powerful  exposition  and  vindication  of  Northern 
sentiment  upon  the  compromise  measures,  especially 
the  fugitive-slave  bill.  If  this  was  true,  he  was  doubt- 
less induced  to  "  change  front  "  by  pledges  of  Southern 
support  for  the  Presidency  ;  but  he  is  reported  by 
Theodore  Parker  as  having  said  to  a  fellow  Senator,  on 
the  morning  of  the  yth  of  March,  "  I  have  my  doubts 
that  the  speech  I  am  going  to  make  will  ruin  me."  He 
should  have  remembered  that  he  had  himself  said  of 
the  Emperor  Napoleon,  "  His  victories  and  his  triumphs 
crumbled  to  atoms,  and  inoldered  to  dry  ashes  in  his 
grasp,  because  he  violated  the  general  sense  of  justice 
of  mankind." 

At  this  time  Webster's  far-seeing  mind  was  doubt- 
less troubled  by  the  prospects  of  a  bloody  civil  war,  with 
the  breaking  up  of  the  Union  he  loved  so  well.  He 
stood  by  the  old  compromises  rather  than  bring  on  a 
sectional  conflict,  and  in  his  opinion  there  was  no  sac- 
rifice too  great  to  avert  a  fratricidal  contest.  "  I  speak 
to-day,"  said  he,  "for  the  preservation  of  the. Union!" 
His  words  were  in  after  years  the  key-notes  of  many 
appeals  for  the  protection  and  the  preservation  of  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Calhoun's  health  had  gradually  failed,  and  at 
last  he  was  supported  into  the  Senate  Chamber 
wrapped  in  flannels,  like  the  great  Chatham,  and 
requested  that  his  friend,  Senator  Mason,  might  read 
some  remarks  which  he  had  prepared.  The  request 


366 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


was,  of  course,  granted,  and  while  Mr.  Mason  read  the 
defiant  pronunciamiento  its  author  sat  wrapped  in  his 
cloak,  his  eyes  glowing  with  meteor-like  brilliancy  as 
he  glanced  at  Senators  upon  whom  he  desired  to  have 
certain  passages  make  an  impression.  When  Mr. 
Mason  had  concluded,  Mr.  Calhoun  was  supported 
from  the  Senate  and  went  back  to  his  lodgings  at  Mr. 


CALHOUN'S   LAST  APPEARANCE  IN  THE  SENATE. 

Hill's   boarding-house,   afterward   known    as    the   Old 
Capitol,  to  die. 

Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  aspired  to  the  leadership  of  the 
South  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  talked 
openly  of  disunion.  "  Let  the  sections,"  said  he,  in 
the  Senate  Chamber,  "  part,  like  the  patriarchs  of  old, 
and  let  peace  and  good-will  subsist  among  their  de- 
scendants. Let  no  wound  be  inflicted  which  time 


An  Impenetrable   Target. 


367 


cannot  heal.  Let  the  flag  of  our  Union  be  folded  up 
entire,  the  thirteen  stripes  recording  the  original  size 
of  our  family,  untorn  by  the  unholy  struggles  of  civil 
war,  its  constellation  to  remain  undimmed,  and  speak- 
ing to  those  who  come  after  us  of  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  the  family  whilst  it  remained  united. 
Unmutilated,  let  it  lie  among  the  archives  of  the 
Republic,  until  some  future  day,  when  wiser  counsels 
shall  prevail,  when 
men  shall  have  been 
sobered  in  the  school 
of  adversity,  again  to 
be  unfurled  over  the 
continent-wide  Repub 
lie." 

Senator  Hale,  who, 
with  Mr.  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  was  not  named 
on  any  of  the  commit- 
tees of  the  Senate,  was 
a  constant  target  for  JJ 
the  attacks  of  the 
Southerners,  but  the 
keenest  shafts  of  satire 
made  no  more  im- 
pression upon  him  than  musket-balls  do  upon  the 
hide  of  a  rhinoceros.  One  day  when  Senator  Clemens 
had  asserted  that  the  Union  was  virtually  dissolved, 
Mr.  Hale  said,  "  If  this  is  not  a  matter  too  serious  for 
pleasant  illustration,  let  me  give  you  one.  Once  in 
my  life,  in  the  capacity  of  Justice  of  the  Peace — for  I 
held  that  office  before  I  was  Senator — I  was  called  on  to 
officiate  in  uniting  a  couple  in  the  bonds  of  matrimony. 
They  came  up,  and  I  made  short  work  of  it.  I  asked 


SALMON  P.  CHASE. 


368 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


the  man  if  he  would  take  the  woman  whom  he  held  by 
the  hand  to  be  his  wedded  wife ;  and  he  replied,  '  To 
be  sure  I  will.  I  came  here  to  do  that  very  thing.' 
I  then  put  the  question  to  the  lady  whether  she  would 
have  the  man  for  her  husband.  And  when  she  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative,  I  told  them  they  were  man 
and  wife  then.  She  looked  up  with  apparent  aston- 
ishment and  inquired,  'Is  that  all?'  'Yes,'  said  I, 
'  that  is  all.'  '  Well,'  said  she,  *  it  is  not  such  a  mighty 
affair  as  I  expected  it  to  be,  after  all !'  If  this  Union 
is  already  dissolved,  it  has  produced  less  commotion  in 
the  act  than  I  expected." 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP  was  born  at  Boston,  Massachusetts,  May  izth,  1809;  was  a  Repre- 
sentative in  Congress  from  Massachusetts  from  December  5th,  1842,  to  July3oth,  1850,  when,  having 
been  appointed  a  United  States  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  serving 
until  February  7tn,  1851 ;  was  Speaker  of  the  House  during  the  Thirtieth  Congress,  and  a  part  of 
the  Thirty-first  Congresi. 


CHAPTER  XXIX, 

\ 

PROMINENT  STATESMEN   AND   DIPLOMATS. 

SAM  HOUSTON,  OF  TEXAS— SEW ARD,  OF  NEW  YORK— BUCHANAN,  OF 
PENNSYLVANIA — AGRICULTURAL  DONATIONS — DIPLOMATIC  REPRESEN- 
TATIVES—SOCIAL ENJOYMENTS — WINTHROP'S  FAREWELL  SUPPER— FA- 
TAL ILLNESS  OF  GENERAL  TAYLOR— DEATH  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 

A  PROMINENT  figure  at  Washington  during 
the  Taylor  Administration  was  General  Sam 
Houston,  a  large,  imposing-looking  man,  who 
generally  wore  a  waistcoat  made  from,  the  skin  of  a 
panther,  dressed  with  the  hair  on,  and  who  generally 
occupied  himself  during  the  sessions  of  the  Senate  in 
whittling  small  sticks  of  soft  pine  wood,  which  the 
Sergeant-at-Arms  provided  for  him.  His  life  had  been 
one  of  romantic  adventure.  After  having  served  with 
distinction  under  General  Jackson  in  the  Creek  War, 
he  had  become  a  lawyer,  and  then  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee.  Soon  after  his  inauguration  he 
had  married  an  accomplished  young  lady,  to  whom  he 
one  day  intimated,  in  jest,  that  she  apparently  cared 
more  for  a  former  lover  than  she  did  for  him.  "  You 
are  correct,"  said  she,  earnestly.  "  I  love  Mr.  Nicker- 
•  son's  little  finger  better  than  I  do  your  whole  body." 
Words  ensued,  and  the  next  day  Houston  resigned  his 
Governorship,  went  into  the  Cherokee  country,  west  of 
the  Arkansas  River,  adopted  the  Indian  costume,  and 
became  an  Indian  trader.  He  was  the  best  customer 
supplied  from  his  own  whisky  barrel,  until  one  day, 
24  369 


370  Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

after  a  prolonged  debauch,  he  heard  from  a  Texan 
Indian  that  the  Mexicans  had  taken  up  arms  against 
their  revolted  province.  A  friend  agreeing  to  accom- 
pany him,  he  cast  off  his  Indian  attire,  again  dressed 
like  a  white  man,  and  never  drank  a  drop  of  any  intoxi- 
cating beverage  afterward.  Arriving  in  Texas  at  a 
critical  moment,  his  gallantry  was  soon  conspicuous, 
and  in  due  time  he  was  sent  to  Washington  as  United 
States  Senator.  His  strong  points,  however,  were 
more  conspicuous  on  the  field  than  in  the  Senate. 

William  H.  Seward  entered  the  Senate  when  General 
Taylor  was  inaugurated  as  President,  and  soon  became 
the  directing  spirit  of  the  Administration,  although 
Colonel  Bullit,  who  had  been  brought  from  Louisiana 
to  edit  the  Republic,  President  Taylor's  recognized 
organ,  spoke  of  him  only  with  supercilious  contempt. 
Senator  Foote  sought  reputation  by  insulting  him 
in  public,  and  was  himself  taunted  by  Mr.  Calhoun  with 
the  inconsistent  fact  of  intimacy  with  him  in  private. 
The  newly  elected  Senator  from  New  York  persisted  in 
maintaining  amicable  relations  with  his  revilers,  and 
quietly  controlled  the  immense  patronage  of  his  State, 
none  of  which  was  shared  by  the  friends  of  Vice-Presi- 
dent Fillmore.  He  was  not  at  heart  a  reformer;  he 
probably  cared  but  little  whether  the  negro  was  a  slave 
or  a  freeman  ;  but  he  sought  his  own  political  advance- 
ment by  advocating  in  turn  anti-Masonry  and  abolition- 
ism, and  by  politically  coquetting  with  Archbishop 
Hughes,  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  •  and  Henry 
Wilson,  a  leading  Know-Nothing.  Personally  he  was 
honest,  but  he  was  always  surrounded  by  intriguers 
and  tricksters,  some  of  whose  nests  he  would  aid  in 
feathering.  The  most  unscrupulous  lobbyists  that 
have  ever  haunted  the  Capitol  were  well  known  as  de- 


Seward  and  Buchanan. 


371 


voted  adherents  of  William  H.  Seward,  and  he  swayed 
them  as  a  sovereign. 

Mr.  James  Buchanan  had  not  shed  many  tears  over 
the  defeat  of  his  rival,  General  Cass,  and  when  the 
Whigs  came  into  power  he  retired  from  the  Depart- 
ment of  State  to  his  rural  home,  called  Wheatland, 


SAM  HOUSTON  WHITTLING  IN  THE  SENATE.         , 

near  Lancaster,  Pa.  He  used  to  visit  Washington  fre- 
quently, and  was  always  welcomed  in  society,  where  he 
made  an  imposing  appearance,  although  he  had  the 
awkward  habit  of  carrying  his  head  slightly  to  one 


372  Per  ley*  s  Reminiscences. 

side,  like  a  poll-parrot.  He  always  attempted  to  be 
facetious,  especially  when  conversing  with  young 
ladies,  but  when  any  political  question  was  discussed 
in  his  presence,  he  was  either  silent,  or  expressed  him- 
self with  great  circumspection.  From  his  first  entry 
into  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  1821,  he  had 
entertained  Presidential  aspirations,  and  had  sought  to 
cultivate  friendships  that  would  be  of  service  to  him  in 
obtaining  the  object  of  his  ambition,  protesting  all  the 
while  that  he  was  indifferent  on  the  subject.  After  his 
retreat  to  Wheatland  he  began  to  secure  strength  for 
the  coming  National  Democratic  Convention  of  1851, 
industriously  corresponding  with  politicians  in  different 
sections  of  the  country,  and  he  was  especially  attentive 
to  Mr.  Henry  A.  Wise,  with  whose  aid  he  hoped  to 
secure  the  votes  of  the  delegates  from  Virginia  in  the 
next  National  Democratic  Convention. 

Mr.  Wise,  recalling  the  time  when  he  was  a  power 
behind  the  throne  of  John  Tyler,  encouraged  Mr. 
Buchanan  to  bid  for  Southern  support,  and  intimated  a 
readiness  to  "  coach  "  him  so  as  to  make  him  a  favorite 
in  the  slave  States.  His  counsels  were  kindly  taken, 
and  in  return  Mr.  Buchanan  wrote  to  the  fiery  "  Lord 
of  Accomac,".  in  his  most  precise  handwriting :  "  Ac- 
quire more  character  for  prudence  and  moderation,  and 
under  the  blessing  of  Heaven  you  may  be  almost  any- 
thing in  this  country  which  you  desire.  There  is  no 
man  living  whose  success  in  public  and  in  private  life 
would  afford  me  more  sincere  pleasure  than  your  own. 
You  have  every  advantage.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to 
go  straight  ahead,  without  unnecessarily  treading  upon 
other  people's  toes.  I  know  you  will  think,  if  you 
don't  say,  '  What  impudence  it  is  for  this  childless  old 
bachelor  of  sixty  years  of  age  to  undertake  to  give  me 


Tickling   the  Constituents. 


373 


advice  !  Why  don't  lie  mind  his  own  business?'  Gen- 
eral Jackson  once  told  me  that  he  knew  a  man  in  Ten- 
nessee who  had  got  rich  by  minding  his  own  business  ; 
but  still  I  urged  him,  and  at  last  with  success,  which 
he  never  regretted." 

The  free  distribution  of  plants  and  seeds  to  Con- 
gressmen for  their  favored  constituents  has  made  it  an 
equally  easy  matter  for  the  Commissioner  of  Agricul- 
ture to  obtain  liberal  appropriations  for  his  Depart- 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  DEPARTMENT. 


ment  and  the  publication  of  enormous  editions  of  his 
Reports.  Indeed,  the  Bureau  of  Agriculture  has  grown 
under  these  fostering  influences  to  one  of  immense 
magnitude,  and  its  beautiful  building,  erected  in  Lin- 
coln's time,  is  one  of  the  ornaments  of  the  city.  , 

The  first  of  the  Agricultural  Reports  was  issued  by 
Edmund  Burke,  while  he  was  commissioner  of  Patents 
during  the  Polk  Administration.  On  the  incoming  of 
the  Taylor  Administration  Mr.  Burke  was  succeeded 


374  Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

by  Thomas  Kwbank,  of  New  York  City,  and  Congress 
made  an  appropriation  of  three  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  for  the  collection  of  agricultural  statistics. 
When  Mr.  Ewbank's  report  appeared  the  Southern 
Congressmen  were  (to  quote  the  words  used  by  Senator 
Jefferson  Davis,  in  debate)  amazed  to  find  that  it  was 
preceded  by  what  he  termed  "  an  introduction  by 
Horace  Greeley,  a  philosopher  and  philanthropist  of 
the  strong  Abolition  type."  "  The  simple  fact,"  he 
continued,  "  that  Mr.  Greeley  was  employed  to  write 
the  introduction  is  sufficient  to  damn  the  work  with 
me,  and  render  it  worthless  in  my  estimation."  This 
view  was  held  by  many  other  Southerners. 

Notwithstanding  this  fierce  denunciation,  however, 
the  public  appreciated  just  such  work  as  had  been 
undertaken,  and  so  rapid  was  the  growth  of  interest  in 
this  direction  that  the  Department  of  Agriculture  was 
fully  organized  in  1862.  It  has  continued  to  issue 
immense  numbers  of  Reports,  which  are  standing 
objects  of  jest  and  complaint,  but  the  fact  still  remains 
that  they  contain  splendid  stores  of  valuable  informa- 
tion. 

Queen  Victoria  accredited  as  her  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary to  President  Taylor  the  Right  Honorable 
Sir  Henry  Lytton  Bulwer,  an  accomplished  diplo- 
mat, slender,  and  apparently  in  ill  health.  He  was 
afterward,  for  many  years,  the  British  Minister  at  Con- 
stantinople, where  he  defeated  the  machinations  of 
Russia,  and  held  in  cunning  hand  the  tangled  thread 
of  that  delicate  puzzle,  the  Eastern  Question.  His 
private  secretary  while  he  was  at  Washington  was  his 
nephew,  Mr.  Robert  Bulwer  (a  son  of  the  novelist), 
who  has  since  won  renown  as  Lord  Lytton,  Viceroy 
of  India,  and  as  the  author — Owen  Meredith. 


Tea-Parties    Triumphant. 


375 


The  bitter  political  discussions  at  the  Capitol  dur- 
ing the  first  six  months  of  1850  prevented  much  social 
enjoyment.  There  were  the  customary  receptions  at 
the  White  House,  and  "  hops  "  at  the  hotels,  but  few 
large  parties  were  given.  Tea-parties  were  numerous, 
at  which  a  succession  of  colored  waiters  carried  trays 
heaped  with  different  varieties  of  home-made  cakes 


TEA-PARTY  IN  TAYLOR'S   TIME. 


and  tarts,  from  which  the  beaux  supplied  the  belles, 
and  at  the  same  time  ministered  to  their  own  wants, 
balancing  a  well-loaded  plate  on  one  knee,  while  they 
held  a  cup  and  saucer,  replete  with  fragrant  decoctions 
from  the  Chinese  plant  u  which  cheers,  but  not  ine- 
briates." 

The    reigning    belles    were    the    queen-like    widow 
Ashley,   of  Missouri,    who  afterward    married  Senator 


376  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

Crittenden,  and  her  beautiful  daughter,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Mr.  Cabell,  of  Florida.  .  Mrs.  Fremont  and 
her  sisters  made  the  home  of  their  father,  Colonel 
Benton,  very  attractive ;  General  Cass's  daughter,  who 
afterward  married  the  Dutch  Minister,  had  returned 
from  Paris  with  many  rare  works  of  art,  and  the  pro- 
scribed Free-soilers  met  with  a  hearty  welcome  at  the 
house  of  Dr.  Bailey,  editor  of  the  New  Era.  It  was 
there  that  Miss  Dodge,  better  known  as  Gail  Hamilton, 
passed  her  first  winter  at  Washington.  She  was  then 
at  the  entrance  of  her  career  of  fame  as  a  vigorous 
writer,  who  skillfully  grasps  a  subject  and  dissects  it, 
laying  bare  blatant  demagoguery  and  political  in- 
trigues, yet  clothing  her  original  thoughts  in  undefiled 
English.  In  after  years,  when  she  wintered  at  Wash- 
ington as  the  guest  of  her  cousin,  Mrs.  James  G. 
Blaine,  she  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  the  most 
brilliant  conversationalist  at  the  metropolis.  Such  a 
distinction,  in  such  society  as  Washington  can  justly 
boast,  is  no  small  honor. 

On  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  July,  1850,  a  large 
reception  was  given  by  ex-Speaker  Winthrop  to  his 
gentleman  friends,  without  distinction  of  party  or 
locality.  At  the  supper-table  Mr.  Winthrop  had  at 
his  right  hand  Vice-President  Fillmore,  and  at  his 
left  hand  Mr.  Speaker  Cobb.  Webster  and  Foote,  Ben- 
ton  and  Horace  Mann,  the  members  elect  from  Cali- 
fornia, with  Clingman  and  Venable,  who  were  trying  ta 
keep  them  out,  were  seen  in  genial  companionship. 
Most  of  the  Cabinet  and  the  President's  private  secre- 
tary, Colonel  Bliss,  were  there,  side  by  side  with  those 
who  proposed  to  impeach  them.  The  only  drawback  to 
the  general  enjoyment  of  the  occasion  was  the  under- 
standing that  it  was  the  farewell  entertainment  of  Mr. 


Taylor's  Last  Battle. 


377 


Winthrop,  who  had  given  so  many  evidences  of  his 
unselfish  patriotism  and  eminent  ability,  and  whose 
large  experience  in  public  affairs  should  have  entitled 
him  to  the  continued  confidence  of  the  people  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. President  Taylor  was  absent,  and  Colonel 


'OLD  ZACK"  ON  "OLD  WHITEY." 


Bliss  apologized  for  his  non-attendance,  saying  that  he 
was  somewhat  indisposed. 

The  old  hero  had  that  day  sat  in  the  sun  at  the 
Washington  Monument  during  a  long  spread-eagle 
address  by  Senator  Foote,  with,  a  tedious  supplemen- 
tary harangue  by  George  Washington  Parke  Custis. 


378  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

While  thus  exposed  to  the  midsummer  heat  for  nearly 
three  hours,  he  had  drank  freely  of  ice-water,  and  on 
his  return  to  the  White  House  he  had  found  a  basket 
of  cherries,  of  which  he  partook  heartily,  drinking  at 
the  same  time  several  goblets  of  iced  milk.  After  din- 
ner he  still  further  feasted  on  cherries  aird  iced  milk, 
against  the  protestations  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  who  was 
his  guest.  When  it  was  time  to  go  to  Mr.  Winthrop's 
he  felt  ill,  and  soon  afterward  he  was  seized  with  a 
violent  attack  of  cholera  morbus.  This  was  on  Thurs- 
day, but  he  did  not  consider  himself  dangerously  ill 
until  Sunday,  when  he  said  to  his  physician,  "  In  two 
days  I  shall  be  a  dead  man."  Eminent  physicians 
were  called  in,  but  they  could  not  arrest  the  bilious 
fever  which  supervened.  His  mind  was  clear,  and  on 
Tuesday  morning  he  said  to  one  of  the  physicians  at 
his  bedside,  "  You  have  fought  a  good  fight,  but  you 
cannot  make  a  stand."  Soon  afterward  he  murmured, 
"  I  have  endeavored  to  do  my  duty,"  and  peacefully 
breathed  his  last.  His  sudden  death  was  immediately 
announced  by  the  tolling  of  the  bell  in  the  Department 
of  State,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  funereal  knell  was 
echoed  from  every  church  steeple  in  the  district. 


WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD  was  born  at  Florida,  New  York,  May  i6th,  1801 ;  was  Governor  of  Nev 
York,  1838-1842;  was  United  States  Senator  from  New  York  from  March  4th,  1849,  until  he  entered 
the  Cabinet  of  President  Lincoln  as  Secretary  of  State,  March  5th,  1861 ;  remained  Secretary  of 
State  under  President  Johnson  until  March  3d,  1869;  traveled  around  the  world  in  1870-1871,  and 
died  at  Auburn,  New  York,  October  loth,  1872. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

FILLMORE  AT  THE  WHITE    HOUSE. 

PRESIDENT  FILLMORE — FUNERAL  OF  GENERAL  TAYLOR — WEBSTER 
AGAIN  SECRETARY  OF  STATE — THE  COMPROMISE  MEASURES— MRS. 
MILLARD  FILLMORE— A  PROUD  FATHER — THE  CAPITOL  EXTENSION  — 
THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS— WASHINGTON  SOCIETY — PUBLIC  AMUSE- 
MENTS. 

ON  the  tenth  of  July,  1850,  the  day  after  the 
death  of  General  Taylor,  Mr.  Fillmore  ap- 
peared in  the  Representatives'  Hall  at  the 
Capitol,  where  both  houses  of  Congress  had  met  in 
joint  session,  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  immediately 
left.  The  new  President  was  then  fifty  years  of  age, 
of  average  height,  stalwart  and  rotund  of  form,  with 
broad,  heavy,  florid  features,  white  hair,  shrewd,  gray 
eyes,  and  dignified  yet  courteous  manners.  He  had 
risen  from  the  humble  walks  of  life,  by  incessant  toil, 
to  the  highest  position  in  the  Republic.  Always  ani- 
mated by  an  indomitable  spirit  and  by  that  industry 
and  perseverance  which  are  the  sure  guarantees  of  suc- 
cess, he  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  ability,  but  his 
intellect  seemed,  like  that  of  Lord  Bacon,  to  lack  the 
complement  of  heart.  A  blank  in  his  nature,  where 
loyalty  to  the  public  sentiment  of  the  North  should 
have  been,  made  him  a  willing  instrument  to  crush  out 
the  growing  determination  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  that  freedom  should  be  national,  slavery  sectional. 
Mr.  Fillmore  had  given  satisfaction  to  the  Senators 

379 


38o 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


by  the  impartial  manner  in  which  he  had  presided  as 
Vice-President  over  their  deliberations.  They  had,  by 
a  unanimous  vote,  approved  of  his  ruling,  which  re- 
versed the  decision  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  twenty-three  years 
before,  that  the  Vice-President  had  no  right  to  call  a 


MILLARD   F1LLMORE. 


Senator  to  order  for  words  spoken  in  debate,  and  they 
had  ordered  his  explanatory  remarks  to  be  entered 
upon  the  journal.  By  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Weed, 
however,  he  was  treated  with  marked  contempt,  and 
under  their  direction  the  Taylor  Administration  had 


General  Taylor's  Funeral.  381 

given  him  the  cold  shoulder.  Even  his  requests  that 
two  of  his  personal  friends  should  be  appointed  Collec- 
tor of  the  Port  and  Postmaster  at  Buffalo  had  been 
formally  refused,  and  the  places  had  been  given  to  par- 
tisans of  Mr.  Seward.  The  unexpected  death  of  Gen- 
eral Taylor  was  an  element  which  even  Mr.  Seward 
had  never  taken  into  account,  and  the  first  consequence 
was  undisguised  confusion  among  the  supporters  of 
the  Administration.  The  members  of  the  Cabinet 
promptly  tendered  their  resignations,  and  it  was  plainly 
visible  that  the  sudden  removal  of  the  President  had 
checkmated  the  plans  so  carefully  made,  and  forced  the 
chief  player  to  feel  the  bitterness  of  political  death. 
Mr.  Fillmore  was  known  to  be  amiable  in  private  life, 
but  it  was  evident  that  he  would  show  little  regard  for 
those  who  had  snubbed  and  slighted  him  in  his  less 
powerful  position. 

The  remains  of  the  deceased  President  lay  in  state 
for  several  days  in  the  East  Room  at  the  White  House, 
and  were  then  interred  with  great  pomp.  Religious 
services  were  held  at  the  White  House,  where  the  dis- 
tinguished men  of  the  nation  were  grouped  around  the 
coffin.  At  the  funeral  there  was  a  large  military  escort 
of  regulars  and  volunteers,  commanded  by  General 
Scott,  who  was  mounted  on  a  spirited  horse  and  wore 
a  richly  embroidered  uniform,  with  a  high  chapeau 
crowned  with  yellow  plumes.  The  ponderous  funeral 
car  was  drawn  by  eight  white  horses.  Behind  the  car 
was  led  "  Old  Whitey,"  the  charger  ridden  by  General 
Taylor  in  Mexico.  He  was  a  well-made  horse,  in  good 
condition,  and  with  head  erect,  as  if  inspired  by  the 
clang  of  martial  music,  he  followed  to  the  grave  the 
remains  of  him  whom  he  had  so  often  borne  to  victory. 
When  the  artillery  and  infantry  fired  the  parting 


382  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

salute  at  the  cemetery,  the  old  war-horse  pricked  up  his- 
ears  and  looked  around  for  his  rider. 

Mr.  Fillmore  tendered  the  Secretary  of  State's  port- 
folio to  Mr.  Webster,  who  promptly  accepted  it.  He 
had  been  assured  that  if  he  would  advocate  the  com- 
promises he  would  create  a  wave  of  popular  sentiment 
that  would  float  him  into  the  White  House  in  1856, 
against  all  opposition,  and  that  no  Democratic  aspirant 
would  stand  in  his  way.  Believing  all  this,  Mr.  Web- 
ster had  committed  himself  in  his  yth  of  March  speech, 
and  had  found  that  many  of  his  life-long  friends  and 
constituents  refused  to  follow  his  lead.  Faneuil  Hall 
had  been  closed  to  him,  and  he  was  glad  to  escape  from 
the  Senate  Chamber  into  the  Department  of  State.  Jef- 
ferson, Madison,  Monroe,  John  Quincy  Adams,  and 
Martin  Van  Buren'had  found  that  Department  a  con- 
venient stepping-stone  to  the  Presidential  chair,  and, 
why  should  not  he  ? 

Mr.  Webster  was  a  great  favorite  in  the  Department 
of  State,  for  he  made  no  removals,  and  his  generous 
and  considerate  treatment  of  the  clerks  won  their 
affection.  His  especial  favorite  was  Mr.  George  J. 
Abbott,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  who  had  been 
graduated  at  Hxeter  and  Cambridge,  and  had  then 
come  to  Washington  to  take  charge  of  a  boys'  school. 
He  was  an  accomplished  classical  scholar,  and  he  used 
to  hunt  up  Latin  quotations  applicable  to  the  questions 
of  the  day,  which  Mr.  Webster  would  commit  to  mem- 
ory and  use  with  effect.  His  private  secretary  was 
Mr.  Charles  Lanman,  a  young  gentleman  of  literary 
and  artistic  tastes,  who  was  a  devoted  disciple  of  Isaak 
Walton.  Mr.  Webster  and  he  would  often  leave  the 
Department  of  State  for  a  day  of  piscatorial  enjoyment 
at  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  when  the  Secretary 


Webster  as  a  Fisherman. 


383 


would  throw  off  public  cares  and  personal  pecuniary 
troubles  to  cast  his  lines  with  boyish  glee,  and  to 
exult  loudly  when  he  succeeded  in  hooking  a  fish. 
Another  clerk  in  the  Department  who  enjoyed  Mr. 
Webster's  esteem  was  Mr.  Zantzinger,  the  son  of  a 
purser  in  the  Navy,  who  possessed  rare  accornplish- 


GREAT   FALLS  OF  THE   POTOMAC. 


ments.  Whenever  Mr.  Webster  visited  his  estates  in 
New  Hampshire  or  in  Massachusetts,  he  was  accom- 
panied by  one  of  these  gentlemen,  who  had  the  charge 
of  his  correspondence,  and  who,  while  enjoying  his 
fullest  confidence,  contributed  largely  to  his  personal 
enjoyment. 

Mr.  Webster's  Washington  home  was  a  two-story 
brick  house  on  Louisiana  Avenue,  next  to  the  Unita- 
rian Church.  His  dining-room  was  in  the  basement 


384  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

story,  and  it  was  seldom  that  he  had  not  friends  at  his 
hospitable  table.  Monica,  the  old  colored  woman,  con- 
tinued to  be  his  favorite  cook,  and  her  soft-shell  crabs, 
terrapin,  fried  oysters,  and  roasted  canvas-back  ducks 
have  never  been  surpassed  at  Washington,  while  she 
could  make  a  regal  Cape  Cod  chowder,  or  roast  a 
Rhode  Island  turkey,  or  prepare  the  old-fashioned  New 
Hampshire  "  boiled  dinner,"  which  the  "expounder of 
the  Constitution  "  loved  so  well.  Whenever  he  had  to 
work  at  night,  she  used  to  make  him  a  cup  of  tea  in  an 
old  britannia  metal  teapot,  which  had  been  his  mother's, 
and  he  used  to  call  this  beverage  his  "  Ethiopian  nec- 
tar." The  teapot  was  purchased  of  Monica  after  Mr. 
Webster's  death  by  Henry  A.  Willard,  Esq.,  of  Wash- 
ington, who  presented  it  to  the  Continental  Museum  at 
Indian  Hill  Farm,  the  author's  residence. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  new  Administration, 
Congress  passed  the  several  compromise  measures  in 
Mr.  Clay's  bill  as  separate  acts.  The  debate  on  each 
one  was  marked  by  acrimony  and  strong  sectional 
excitement,  and  each  one  was  signed  by  President  Fill- 
more  amid  energetic  protests  from  the  Northern  Abo- 
litionists and  the  Southern  Secessionists.  The  most 
important  one,  which  provided  for  the  rendition  of  fugi- 
tive slaves,  he  referred  to  Attorney-General  Crittenden 
before  signing  it,  and  received  his  opinion  that  it  was 
constitutional.  When  it  was  placed  on  the  statute 
book,  the  Union  members  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives organized  a  serenade  to  President  Fillmore  and  his 
Secretary  of  State,  Daniel  Webster.  The  President 
bowed  his  acknowledgments  from  a  window  of  the 
Executive  Mansion,  but  Mr.  Webster  came  out  on  the 
broad  doorstep  of  his  home,  with  a  friend  on  either  side 
of  him  holding  a  candle,  and,  attired  in  a  dressing 


President  Fillmore^s  Family. 


38; 


gown,  lie   commenced  a  brief  speech  by  saying,  "  Now 
is  the  summer — no  !     Now  is  the  winter  of  our  discon- 
tent  made   glorious    summer    by  this    son    of  York." 
This  ended  the  speech  also. 
The  wife  of  President  Fillmore  was  the  daughter  of 


W HESTER'S   RESPONSE. 


the  Rev. 
Lemuel  Pow- 
ers, a  Baptist 
clergyman.  She  was 
tall,  spare,  and  graceful, 
with  auburn  hair,  light  blue 
eyes,  and  a  fair  complexion. 
Before  her  marriage  she  had 
taught  school,  and  she  was 
remarkably  well-informed,  but  somewhat  reserved  in 
her  intercourse  with  strangers.  She  did  not  come  to 
Washington  until  after  her  husband  became  President, 
and  her  delicate  health  prevented  her  mingling  in  so- 
ciety, though  she  presided  with  queenly  grace  at  the 
official  dinner-parties. 

The    President's   father,   "  Squire    Fillmore,"   as    he 
was  called,  visited  his  son  at  the  White  House.     He 

25 


386  Pcrley^s  Reminiscences. 

was  a  venerable-looking,  man,  tall,  and  not  much  bowed 
by  his  eighty  years,  his  full  gray  hair  and  intelligent 
face  attracting  much  attention.  When  he  was  about 
to  leave,  a  gentleman  asked  him  why  he  would  not  re- 
main a  few  days  longer.  "  No,  no  !"  said  the  old  gen- 
tleman, "  I  will  go.  I  don't  like  it  here  ;  it  isn't  a 
good  place  to  live  ;  it  isn't  a  good  place  for  Millard  ;  I 
wish  he  was  at  home  in  Buffalo." 

The  corner-stone  of  one  of  the  "  extensions  "  of  the 
Capitol  was  laid  on  the  seventy-sixth  anniversary  of 
our  national  independence,  July  4th,  1851,  by  the  fra- 
ternity of  Free  Masons  in  "  due  and  ample  form." 
President  Fillmore,  the  Cabinet,  the  Diplomatic  Corps, 
several  Governors  of  States,  and  other  distinguished 
personages  occupied  seats  on  a  temporary  platform, 
which  overlooked  the  place  where  the  corner-stone  was 
laid,  Major  B.  B.  French,  Grand  Master  of  Masons  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  officiating.  Mr.  Webster 
was  the  orator  of  the  day,  and  delivered  an  eloquent, 
thoughtful,  and  patriotic  address,  although  he  was  evi- 
dently somewhat  feeble,  and  was  forced  to  take  sips  of 
strong  brandy  and  water  to  sustain  him  as  he  proceeded. 
Among  the  vast  audience  were  three  gentlemen  who 
had,  fifty-eight  years  previously,  seen  General  Wash- 
ington aid  his  brother  Free  Masons  in  laying  the  corner- 
stone of  the  original  Capitol. 

Later  in  that  year,  the  large  hall  which  contained 
the  library  of  Congress,  occupying  the  entire  western 
side  of  the  centre  of  the  Capitol,  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
with  almost  all  of  its  valuable  contents.  The  weather 
was  intensely  cold,  and,  had  not  the  firemen  and  citi- 
zens (including  President  Fillmore)  worked  hard,  the 
entire  Capitol  would  have  been  destroyed.  Congress 
soon  afterward  made  liberal  appropriations,  not  only 


387 


388  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

for  reconstructing  the  library  of  cast-iron,  but  for  the 
purchase  of  books,  so  that  the  library  soon  rose,  phoe- 
nix-like, from  its  ashes.  But  the  purchases  were  made 
on  the  old  plan,  under  the  direction  of  the  Congres- 
sional Joint  Committee  on  the  Library,  the  Chairman 
of  which  then,  and  for  several  previous  and  subsequent 
sessions,  was  Senator  Pearce,  of  Maryland,  a  graduate 
of  Princeton  College.  There  was  not  in  the  Library  of 
Congress  a  modern  encyclopaedia,  or  a  file  of  a  New 
York  daily  newspaper,  or  of  any  newspaper  except  the 
venerable  daily,  National  Intelligencer,  while  DeBow^s 
Review  was  the  only  American  magazine  taken,  al- 
though the  London  Court  Journal  was  regularly 
received,  and  bound  at  the  close  of  each  successive 
year. 

Jenny  Lind  created  a  great  sensation  at  Washington, 
and  at  her  first  concert  Mr.  Webster,  who  had  been 
dining  out,  rose  majestically  at  the  end  of  her  first 
song  and  made  an  imposing  bow,  which  was  the  signal 
for  enthusiastic  applause.  Lola  Montez  danced  in  her 
peculiar  style  to  an  audience  equally  large,  but  con- 
taining no  ladies.  Charlotte  Cushman  appeared  as 
Meg  Merrilies,  Parodi  and  Dempster  sang  in  concerts, 
Burton  and  Brougham  convulsed  their  hearers  with 
laughter,  Booth  gave  evidence  of  the  undiminished  glow 
of  his  fiery  genius  by  his  masterly  delineation  of  the 
"  wayward  and  techy  "  Gloster,  and  Forrest  ranted  in 
Metamora,  to  the  delight  of  his  admirers.  Colonel 
John  W.  Forney  told  a  good  story  about  a  visit  which 
he-  paid  with  Forrest  to  Henry  Clay  soon  after  the 
passage  of  the  compromise  measure.  The  Colonel 
unguardedly  complimented  a  speech  made  by  Senator 
Soule,  which  made  Mr.  Clay's  eyes  flash,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded to  criticise  him  very  severely,  ending  by  say- 


Clay  and  Forrest.  389 

ing  :  "  He  is  nothing  but  an  actor,  sir — a  mere  actor  !" 
Then,  suddenly  recollecting  the  presence  of  the  trage- 
dian, he  dropped  his  tone,  and  turning  toward  Mr. 
Forrest,  said,  with  a  graceful  gesture,  "  I  mean,  my 
dear  sir,  a  mere  French  actor!"  The  visitors  soon 
afterward  took  their  leave,  and  as  they  descended 
the  stairs,  Forrest  turned  toward  Forney  and  said, 
"  Mr.  Clay  has  proved  by  the  skill  with  which  he  can 
change  his  manner,  and  the  grace  with  which  he 
can  make  an  apology,  that  he  is  a  better  actor  than 
Scute'." 


MILLARD  FILLMORE  was  born  at  Summer  Hill,  New  York,  January  yth,  1800  ;  was  a  Represent- 
ative in  Congress  from  New  York,  1837-1843;  was  defeated  as  a  Whig  candidate  for  Governor  of 
New  York,  1844  ;  was  elected  State  Comptroller,  1847;  was  elected  Vice-President  on  the  Whig 
ticket  headed  by  Z.  Taylor  in  1848,  receiving  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  electoral  votes,  against 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  electoral  votes  for  W.  O.  Butler;  served  as  President  of  the  United 
States  from  July  gth,  1850,  to  March  3d,  1853  ;  was  defeated  as  the  National  American  candidate 
for  President  in  1856 ;  and  died  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  March  8th,  1874. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

ARRAIGNMENT   OF   DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

ACCUSATION  AGAINST  MR.  WEBSTER — THE  "EXPOUNDER  OF  THE  CON- 
STITUTION "  SORE  AT  HEART — BELLIGERENT  MISSISSIPPI ANS — PAINT- 
ING AND  SCULPTURE  AT  THE  CAPITOL— OVERLAND  EXPLORATIONS — 
A  WASHINGTON  MOB — A  WASHINGTON  CORRESPONDENT. 

MR.  CLAYTON,  when  Secretary  of  State,  had 
received  a  proposition  from  August  Belmont, 
as  the  agent  of  the  Rothschilds,  to  pay  the 
Mexican  indemnity  in  drafts,  for  which  four  per  cent, 
premium  would  be  allowed.  Then  Mr/  Webster  be- 
came Secretary  of  Sta,te,  and  he  entered  into  an  agree- 
ment with  an  association  of  bankers,  composed  of  the 
Barings,  Corcoran  &  Riggs,  and  Rowland  &  As  pin- 
wall,  for  the  negotiation  of  the  drafts  by  them  at  a  pre- 
mium of  three  and.a-half  per  cent.  The  difference  to 
the  Government  was  about  forty  thousand  dollars,  but 
the  rival  sets  of  bankers  had  large  interests  at  stake, 
based  on  their  respective  purchases  of  Mexican  obliga- 
tions at  depreciated  values,  and  a  war  of  pamphlets 
and  newspaper  articles  ensued.  The  dispute  was  car- 
ried into  Congress,  and  during  a  debate  on  it  in  the 
House,  Representative  Cartter,  of  Ohio,  afterward 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Courts  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
was  very  emphatic  in  his  condemnation  of  all  the 
bankers  interested.  u  I  want  the  House  to  under- 
stand," said  he,  with  a  slight  impediment. in  his  speech, 
"  that  I  take  no  part  with  the  house  of  Rothschild,  or 
390 


Assailed  and  Defended. 


391 


of  Baring,  or  of  Corcoran  &  Riggs.  I  look  upon  their 
scramble  for  money  precisely  as  I  would  upon  the  con- 
test of  a  set  of  blacklegs  around  a  gaming-table  over 
the  last  stake.  They  have  all  of  them  grown  so  large 
in  gormandizing  upon  money  that  they  have  left  the 
work  of  fleecing  individuals,  and  taken  to  the  enter- 
prise of  fleecing  nations." 

Mr.  Charles  Allen,  of  the  Worcester  district  of  Massa- 
chusetts, availed  him- 


self  of  the  opportunity 
offered  by  this  debate 
on  the  payment  of  the 
Mexican  indemnity  to 
make  a  long-threaten- 
ed malignant  attack  on 
Daniel  Webster.  He 
asserted  that  he  would 
not  intrust  Mr.  Web- 
ster with  the  making 
of  arrangements  to  pay 
the  three  millions  of 
Mexican  indemnity. 
He  stated  that  it  was 
notorious  that  when 
he  was  called  to  take 
the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  he  entered  into  a 
negotiation  by  which  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  was 
raised  for  him  in  State  Street,  Boston,  and  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  in  Wall  Street,  New  York.  Mr. 
Allen  trusted  that  the  Democratic  party  had  yet  honor 
enough  left  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  and  that  the 
Whigs  even,  would  not  palliate  it,  if  satisfied  of  the 
fact. 

Mr.    George     Ashmun,    Representative     from    the 


GEORGE  ASHMUN. 


392  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

Springfield  district,  retorted  that  Mr.  Allen  had  eaten 
salt  with  Mr.  Webster  and  received  benefits  from  him, 
and  that  he  was  the  only  one  who  dared  thus  malig- 
nantly to  assail  him.  Mr.  Ashmun  alluded  to  a  letter 
from  Washington,  some  time  previously  published  in 
the  Boston  Atlas,  stating  that  a  member  of  the  House 
had  facts  in  his  possession  upon  which  to  found  a  reso- 
lution charging  a  high  officer  with  "  corruption  and 
treason,"  and  he  traced  a  connection  between  that 
letter  and  Mr.  Allen's  insinuations. 

Mr.  Henry  W.  Hilliard,  of  Alabama,  followed  Mr. 
Ashmun  with  a  glowing  eulogy  of  Mr.  Webster,  in 
which  he  declared  that,  although  Massachusetts  might 
repudiate  him,  the  country  would  take  him  up,  for  he 
stood  before  the  eyes  of  mankind  in  a  far  more  glorious 
position  than  he  could  have  occupied  but  for  the  stand 
which  he  had  taken  in  resisting  the  legions  which  were 
bearing  down  against  the  rights  of  the  South.  This 
elicited  a  bitter  rejoinder  from  Mr.  Allen,  who  alluded 
to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Hilliard  was  a  clergyman,  and  said 
that  he  had  found  out  how  to  serve  two  masters.  Mr. 
Ashmun,  asking  Mr.  Allen  if  he  had  not  published 
confidential  letters  addressed  to  him  by  Mr.  Charles 
Hudson,  received  as  a  reply,  "  No,- sir !  no,  sir!  You 
are  a  scoundrel  if  you  say  that  I  did !"  The  debate 
between  Messrs.  Ashmun  and  Allen  finally  became  so 
bitter  that  Mr.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  and  other  Repre- 
sentatives objected  to  its  continuance,  and  refused  to 
hear  another  word  from  either  of  them.  The  next  day 
Mr.  Lewis,  of  Philadelphia,  improved  an  opportunity 
for  eulogizing  Mr.  Webster,  provoking  a  scathing  reply 
from  Mr.  Joshua  Giddings. 

Immediately  after  this  debate,  Mr.  Ashmun  wrote  to 
Mr.  Hudson  to  inquire  whether  the  statement  was  true 


Webster's  Consolations.  393 

or  false,  and  received    the  following  telegraphic   dis- 
patch : 

"  BOSTON,  March  3d,  1851. 

"  HON.  GEORGE  ASHMUN  :  I  wrote  a  confidential  letter  to  Hon. 
Charles  Allen  just  before  the  Philadelphia  Convention  in  1848.  He 
read  the  letter  in  a  public  meeting  at  Worcester,  and  published  it  in 
the  Worcester  Spy. 

(Signed)  "CHARGES  HUDSON." 

Mr.  Ashmun  declared  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  by 
the  authority  of  Mr.  Webster,  that  the  statement  of 
Mr.  Allen  was  "  false  in  all  its  length  and  breadth,  and 
in  all  its  details,"  but  there  was  doubtless  a  foundation 
for  the  statement.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Webster  admit- 
ted that  a  voluntary  contribution  had  been  tendered 
him  as  a  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  he  had  made  in 
abandoning  his  profession  to  accept  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  they  justified  his  acceptance  of  the 
money  on  the  ground  that  after  having  devoted  the 
labors  of  a  long  life  to  his  profession,  and  attained  in  it 
a  high  rank,  which  brought  large  fees,  he  should  not  be 
asked  to  relinquish  those  professional  emoluments 
without,  in  justice  to  his  obligations  to  his  family,  ac- 
cepting an  equivalent.  Without  indorsing  this  State- 
Street  view  of  the  case,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the 
charges  were  made,  to  trouble  Mr.  Webster's  spirit  and 
sour  his  heart. 

Mr.  Webster  often  sought  consolation  in  his  troubles 
from  the  grand  old  poetry  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  which 
awakened  peaceful  echoes  in  his  own  poetic  soul.  His 
chosen  u  crony "  in  his  latter  years,  though  much 
younger  than  himself,  was  Charles  Marsh,  a  New 
Hampshire  man.  Well  educated,  polished  by  travel, 
and  free  from  pecuniary  hamper,  Marsh  was  a  most  de- 
lightful companion,  and  his  wit,  keen  as  Saladin's  cim- 
eter,  never  wounded.  Fletcher  Webster  was  also  a 


394  Per  ley  s  Reminiscences. 

great  favorite  with  his  father,  for  he  possessed  what 
Charles  Lever  called  "  the  lost  art  of  conversation." 
Sometimes,  when  Mr.  Webster's  path  had  been  crossed, 
and  he  was  as  black  as  night,  Marsh  and  Fletcher 
would,  by  humorous  repartees  and  witticisms,  drive  the 
clouds  away,  and  gradually  force  him  into  a  conversa- 
tion, which  would  soon  become  enlivened  by  the  "  inex- 
tinguishable laughter  of  the  gods." 

That  Mr.  Webster  felt  keenly  the  attacks  upon  him 
was  undeniable,  and  atonement  could  not  afterward  be 
made  by  eulogizing  him.  It  has  been  well  said,  that  if 
charity  is  to  be  th~  veil  to  cover  a  multitude  of  sins  in 
the  dead  as  well  as  in  the  living,  cant  should  not  lift 
that  veil  to  swear  that  those  sins  were  virtues.  Mr. 
Webster  was  sorely  troubled  by  the  attitude  taken  l>y 
many  Massachusetts  men  at  a  time  when  he  needed 
their  aid  to  secure  the  Presidency,  which  he  undoubt- 
edly believed  would  be  tendered  him  by  the  Southern 
Whigs,  seconded  by  many  Southern  Democrats.  He 
lost  flesh,  the  color  faded  from  his  cheeks,  the  lids  of 
his  dark  eyes  were  livid,  and  he  was  evidently  debili- 
tated and  infirm.  At  times  he  would  be  apparently 
unconscious  of  those  around  him,  then  he  would  rally, 
and  would  display  his  wonderful  conversational  quali- 
ties. Yet  it  was  evident  to  those  who'  knew  him  best 
that  he  was  "  stumbling  down,"  as  Carlyle  said  of 
Mirabeau,  "  like  a  mighty  heathen  and  Titan  to  his 
rest." 

One  pleasant  afternoon  in  March,  Mr.  Brown,  of 
Mississippi,  delivered  a  long  speech  in  the  House  upon 
the  politics  of  that  State,  in  which  he  defended  the  State 
Rights  party  and  ridiculed  the  Union  movement  as  un- 
necessary, no  one  then  being  in  favor  of  either  disunion 
or  secession.  This,  one  of  his  colleagues,  Mr.  Wilcox, 


Violence  in   Congress. 


395 


denied.  "  Do  you  mean,"  said  Mr.  Browii,  "  to  assert 
that  what  I  have  said  is  false  ?"  "  If  you  say,"  bravely 
responded  Mr.  Wilcox,  "  that  there  was  110  party  in 
Mississippi  at  the  recent  election  in  favor  of  secession 
or  disunion,  you  say  what  is  false!"  The  last  word 
was  echoed  by  a  ringing  slap  from  Brown's  open  hand 


A  ROW   IN   CONGRESS. 


on  the  right  cheek  of  Wilcox,  who  promptly  returned 
the  blow,  and  then  the  two  men  clinched  each  other  in 
a  fierce  struggle.  Many  of  the  members,  leaving  their 
seats,  crowded  around  the  combatants,  while  Mr.  Sey- 


396  Per le^s  Reminiscences. 

mour,  of  Connecticut,  who  temporarily  occupied  the 
chair,  pounded  with  his  mallet,  shouting  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  "  Order !  order !"  The  Sergeant-at-Arms  was 
loudly  called  for,,  but  he  was  absent,  and  before  he 
could  be  found  the  parties  had  been  separated.  The 
Speaker  resumed  the  chair,  and  in  a  few  moments  the 
contestants,  still  flushed,  apologized  to  the  House — not 
to  each  other.  A  duel  was  regarded  as  inevitable,  but 
mutual  friends  intervened,  and  the  next  day  it  was 
formally  announced  in  the  House  that  the  difficulty 
a  had  been  adjusted  in  a  manner  highly  creditable  to 
both  parties,  who  again  occupied  the  same  position  of 
friendship  which  had  existed  between  them  previous  to 
the  upleasant  affair  of  the  day  before."  Thus  easily 
blew  over  the  terrific  tempests  of  honorable  members. 

Mr.  Leutze,  a  talented  artist,  petitioned  Congress  to 
commission  him  to  paint  for  the  Capitol  copies  of  his 
works,  "  Washington  Crossing  the  Delaware,"  and 
"  Washington  Rallying  his  Troops  at  Monmouth," 
but  without  success.  Mr.  Healy  was  equally  unsuc- 
cessful with  his  proposition  to  paint  two  large  historical 
paintings  for  the  stairways  of  the  extension  of  the 
Capitol,  one  representing  the  "Destruction  of  the  Tea 
in  Boston  Harbor,"  and  the  other  the  "Battle  of  Bunker 
Hill;"  but  subsequently  he  received  an  order  to  paint 
the  portraits  of  the  Presidents  which  now  grace  the 
White  House.  Mr.  Martin,  a  marine  artist  of  recog- 
nized ability,  also  proposed  in  vain  to  paint  two  large 
pictures,  one  representing  the  famous  action  between 
the  Constitution  and  the  Guerriere,  and  the  other  the 
night  combat  between  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  the 
Serapis.  Indeed,  there  have  been  scores  of  meritorious 
works  of  art  offered  to  and  declined  by  Committees  of 
Congress,  which  have  expended  large  sums  in  the  pur- 


Art  at  the  Capitol.  397 

chase  of  daubs  disgraceful  to  the  Capitol  of  the  nation. 
The  recognition  refused  these  painters  at  Washing- 
ton was  freely  accorded  elsewhere,  however.  Leutze's 
"  Columbus  Before  the  Council  at  Salamanca  "  is  justly 
deemed  one  of  the  gems  of  the  Old  World,  and  has 
given  him  an  imperishable  name.  Among  the  really 
great  works  of  our  own  country  is  Healy's  painting, 
"  Webster's  Reply  to  Hayne,"  now  in  Faneuil  Hall. 


THE   BRASS  ROCKING-HORSE. 


So  with  sculpture.  Hiram  Powers  endeavored,  with- 
out success,  to  obtain  an  order  for  his  colossal  statue 
of  America,  which  was  highly  commended  by  compe- 
tent judges,  while  Mr.  Mills  was  liberally  remunerated 
for  his  effigy  of  General  Jackson  balancing  himself  on 
a  brass  rocking-horse.  Powers  wrote :  "  I  do  not  com- 
plain of  anything,  for  I  know  how  the  world  goes,  as 


398  Per  ley1  s  Reminiscences. 

the  saying  is,  and  I  try  to  take  it  calmly  and  patiently, 
holding  out  iny  net,  like  a  fisherman,  to  catch  salmon, 
shad,  or  pilchards,  as  they  may  come.  If  salmon,  why, 
then,  we  can  eat  salmon ;  if  shad,  why,  then,  the  shad 
are  good  ;  but  if  pilchards,  why,  then,  we  can  eat  them, 
and  bless  God  that  we  have  a  dinner  at  all." 

The  honors  secured  for  Colonel  Fremont  by  his 
father-in-law,  Mr.  Benton,  for  his  path-findings  across 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  inspired  other  young  officers  of 
the  army,  and  some  civilians,  with  a  desire  to  follow 
his  example.  Returning  to  Washington,  each  one  had 
wonderful  tales  of  adventure  to  relate.  Even  the  old 
travelers,  who  saw  the  phoenix  expire  in  her  odorifer- 
ous nest,  whence  the  chick  soon  flew  forth  regenerated, 
or  who  found  dead  lions  slain  by  the  quills  of  some 
'•fretful  porcupine,"  or  who  knew  that  the  stare  of  the 
basilisk  was  death — even  those  who  saw  unicorns  graze 
and  who  heard  mermaids  sing — were  veracious  when 
compared  with  the  explorers  of  railroad  routes  across 
the  continent.  Senator  Jefferson  Davis  did  much  to 
encourage  them  by  having  their  reports  published  in 
quarto  form,  with  expensive  illustrations,  and  Corne- 
lius Wendell  laid  the  foundation  of  his  fortune  by 
printing  them  as  "  Pub.  Docs." 

The  National  Era,  edited  by  Dr.  Gamaliel  Bailey, 
was  a  source  of  great  annoyance  to  the  pro-slavery 
men,  and  on  one  occasion  they  excited  an  attack  on  his 
house  by  a  drunken  mob.  Dr.  Bailey  was  a  small, 
slender  man,  with  a  noble  head,  and  a  countenance  on 
which  the  beautiful  attributes  of  his  character  were 
written.  Taking  his  life  in  his  hands,  he  went  to  his 
door-way,  attended  by  his  wife,  and  bravely  faced  the 
infuriated  crowd.  He  denied  that  he  had  any  agency 
in  a  recent  attempt  to  secure  the  escape  of  a  party  of 


A  Mob  Cooled  Off.  399 

slaves  to  the  North.,  and  then  called  the  attention  of 
his  hearers  to  the  fact  that  at  a  public  meeting  of  the 
citizens  of  Washington,  not  very  long  before  that 
night,  resolutions,  had  been  passed  denouncing  the 
French  Government  for  having  fettered  the  press,  yet 
they  were  proposing  to  do  in  his  case  what  their  fellow- 
citizens  had  condemned  when  done  by  others.  His 
remarks  produced  an  effect,  but  the  leaders  of  the  mob 
raised  the  cry,  "Burn  the  Era  office!"  and  a  movement 
was  made  toward  that  building,  when  Dan  Radcliffe,  a 
well-known  Washington  lawyer  with  Southern  sympa- 
thies, sprang  upon  Dr.  Bailey's  doorstep  and  made  an 
eloquent  appeal  in  behalf  of  a  free  press,  concluding 
with  a  proposition  that  the  assemblage  go  to  the  house 
of  the  Mayor  of  Washington  and  give  him  three  cheers. 
This  was  done,  Radcliffe's  good  nature  prevailing,  and 
the  mob  dispersed  peaceably. 

Dr.  Bailey  was,  however,  no  novice  in  dealing  with 
mobs.  Ten  years  before  he  carne  to  Washington  he 
resided  in  Cincinnati,  where,  in  conjunction  with  James 
G.  Birney,  he  published  The  Philanthropist,  a  red-hot 
anti-slavery  sheet.  During  his  first  year  in  this  enter- 
prize  his  office  was  twice  attacked  by  a  mob,  and  in  one 
of  their  raids  the  office  was  gutted  and  the  press  thrown 
into  the  river.  These  lively  scenes  induced  a  change 
of  base  and  settled  the  good  Doctor  in  the  national 
metropolis. 

The  ablest  newspaper  correspondent  at  Washington 
during  the  Fillmore  Administration  was  Mr.  Brastus 
S.  Brooks,  one  of  the  editors  and  proprietors  of  the 
New  York  Express.  He  was  then  in  the  prime  of  life, 
rather  under  the  average  height,  with  a  large,  well- 
balanced  head,  bright  black  eyes,  and  a  swarthy  com- 
plexion. What  he  did  not  know  about  what  was  going 


400  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

on  in  political  circles,  before  and  behind  the  scenes, 
was  not  worth  knowing.  His  industry  was  proverbial, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  first  metropolitan  correspond- 
ents to  discard  the  didactic  and  pompous  style  which 
had  been  copied  from  the  British  essayists,  and  to  write 
with  a  vigorous,  graphic,  and  forcible  pen.  Washing- 
ton correspondents  in  those  days  were  neither  eaves- 
droppers nor  interviewers,  but  gentlemen,  who  had  a 
recognized  position  in  society,  which  they  never 
abused. 


ROBEKT  J.  WALKER  was  born  at  Northumberland,  Pennsylvania,  July  igth,  1801;  removed  to 
Mississippi  in  1826,  and  commenced  ihe  practice  of  law  ;  was  United  States  Senator  from  Mississippi, 
1836-1845;  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  President  Polk,  1845-1849;  was  appointed,  by 
President  Buchanan,  Governor  of  Kansas  in  1857,  but  soon  resigned,  and  died  at  Washington  City, 
November  nth,  1860. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

FOREIGN   INFLUENCE   AND    KNOW-NOTHINGISM. 

'  FILIBUSTERING"  —  THE  HULSEMANN  LETTER  —  KOSSUTH,  OF  HUN- 
GARY— THE  KNOW-NOTHINGS — BOSS  TWEED,  OF  NEW  YORK — BUTLER, 
OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA— OTHER  PROMINENT  SENATORS —EXIT  CLAY — 
ENTER  SUMNER— THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  HOUSE. 

THE  forcible  acquisition  of  territory  was  the 
means  by  which  the  pro-slavery  leaders  at 
the  South  hoped  to  increase  their  territory, 
and  they  defended  this  scheme  in  the  halls  of  Congress, 
in  their  pulpits,  and  at  their  public  gatherings.  Going 
back  into  sacred  and  profane  history,  they  would 
attempt  to  prove  that  Moses,  Joshua,  Saul,  and  David 
were  "  filibusters,"  and  so  were  William  the  Con- 
queror, Charlemagne,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  Napo- 
leon. Walker  simply  followed  their  example,  except 
that  they  wore  crowns  on  their  heads,  while  he,  a  new 
man,  only  carried  a  sword  in  his  hand.  Was  it  right,, 
they  asked,  when  a  brave  American  adventurer,  in- 
vited by  the  despairing  victims  of  tyranny  in  Cuba  or 
of  anarchy  in  Central  America,  threw  himself  boldly,, 
with  a  handful  of  comrades,  into  their  midst  to  sow  the 
seeds  of  civilization  and  to  reconstruct  society — was  it 
right  for  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  themselves 
the  degenerate  sons  of  filibustering  sires,  to  hurl  at 
him  as  a  reproach  what  was  their  ancestors'  highest 
merit  and  glory  ? 

General  Walker,  the  "  gray-eyed  mkn  of  destiny," 
26  401 


402 


Perlefs  Reminiscences. 


was  the  leading  native  filibuster,  but  foremost  among 
the  foreign  adventurers — the  Dugald  Dalgettys  of 
that  epoch — who  came  here  from  unsuccessful  revo- 
lutions abroad  to  seek  employment  for  their  swords, 


THE  FAMOUS   FILIBUSTER,  GEN.  WALKER. 

was  General  Heningen.  He  had  served  with  Zumala- 
Carreguy,  in  Spain,  with  Schamyl,  in  the  Caucasus, 
and  with  Kossuth,  in  Hungary,  chronicling  his  exploits 
in  works  which  won  him  the  friendship  of  Wellington 


An   Unavailing  Protest.  403 

and  other  notables.  Going  to  Central  America,  he 
fought  gallantly,  but  unsuccessfully,  at  Grenada,  and 
he  then  came  to  Washington,  where  he  was  soon 
known  as  an  envoy  of  "  Cuba  Libre."  He  married  a 
niece  of  Senator  Berrien,  of  Georgia,  a  devoted  and 
cultivated  woman,  and  Hio  tall,  soldier-like  figure  was 
to  be  seen  striding  along  on  the  sunny  sidewalk  of 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  every  pleasant  morning,  until  in 
later  years  he  went  South  to  "  live  or  die  in  Dixie." 

President  Taylor  having  sent  Mr.  Dudley  Mann  as 
a  confidential  agent  to  Hungary  to  obtain  reliable  in- 
formation concerning  the  true  condition  of  affairs 
there,  the  Austrian  Government  instructed  its  diplo- 
matic representative  at  Washington,  the  Chevalier 
Hulsemann,  to  protest  against  this  interference  in  its 
internal  affairs,  as  offensive  to  the  laws  of  propriety. 
This  protest  was  communicated  to  Mr.  Webster  after 
he  became  Secretary  of  State,  and  in  due  time  the 
Chevalier  received  an  answer  which  completely  extin- 
guished him.  It  carefully  reviewed  the  case,  and  in 
conclusion  told  the  protesting  Chevalier  in  plain  Anglo- 
Saxon  that  nothing  would  "  deter  either  the  Govern- 
ment or  the  people  of  the  United  States  from  exercis- 
ing, at  their  own  discretion,  the  rights  belonging  to 
them  as  an  independent  nation,  and  of  forming  and 
expressing  their  own  opinion  freely  and  at  all  times 
upon  the  great  political  events  which  might  transpire 
among  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth."  The  pater- 
nity of  this  memorable  letter  was  afterward  ascribed 
to  Edward  Everett.  It  was  not,  however,  written 
either  by  Mr.  Webster  or  Mr.  Everett,  but  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Hunter,  then  the  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Department 
of  State. 

Meanwhile,  Kossuth  had  been  released  from  his  im- 


404 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


prisonment  within  the  dominion  of  the  Sublime  Porte, 
by  request  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  taken  to  England  in  the  war  steamer  Mississippi. 
In  due  time  the  great  Behemoth  of  the  Magyar  race 
arrived  at  Washington,  where  he  created  a  marked 
sensation.  The  distinguished  revolutionist  wore  a 
military  uniform,  and  the  steel  scabbard  of  his  sword 
trailed  on  the  ground  as  he  walked.  He  was  about  five 

feet  eight  inches  in 
height,  with  a  slight 
and  apparently  not 
strongly  built  frame, 
and  was  a  little  round- 
shouldered.  His  face 
was  rather  oval ;  a  pair 
of  bluish-gray  eyes 
gave  an  animated  and 
intelligent  look  to  his 
countenance.  His  fore- 
head, high  and  broad, 
was  deeply  wrinkled, 
and  time  had  just  be- 
gun to  grizzle  a  head 
of  dark,  straight  hair, 
a  heavy  moustache, 
and  whiskers  which  formed  a  beard  beneath  his  chin. 
Whether  from  his  recent  captivity  or  from  constitu- 
tional causes,  there  was  an  air  of  lassitude  in  his  look 
to  which  the  fatigues  of  his  voyage  not  improbably 
contributed.  Altogether,  he  gave  one  the  idea  of  a 
visionary  or  theoretical  enthusiast  rather  than  of  a 
great  leader  or  a  soldier. 

Kossuth   was   the   guest   of    Congress    at    Brown's 
Hotel,  but   those   Senators   and   Representatives  who 


LOUIS   KOSSUTH. 


A   Gigantic  Humbug.  405 

called  to  pay  their  respects  found  members  of  his 
retinue  on  guard  before  the  door  of  his  apartments, 
armed  with  muskets  and  bayonets,  while  his  ante- 
room was  crowded  with  the  members  of  his  staff. 
They  had  evidently  been  reared  in  camps,  as  they 
caroused  all  day  and  then  tumbled  into  their  beds 
booted  and  spurred,  furnishing  items  of  liquors,  wines, 
cigars,  and  damaged  furniture  for  the  long  and  large 
hotel  bill  which  Congress  had  to  pay.  Mr.  Seward 
entertained  the  Hungarian  party  at  an  evening  recep- 
tion, and  a  number  of  Congressmen  gave  Kossuth  a 
subscription  dinner  at  the  National  Hotel,  at  which 
several  of  the  known  aspirants  for  the  Presidency 
spoke.  Mr.  Webster  was,  as  became  the  Secretary  of 
State,  carefully  guarded  in  his  remarks,  and  later 
in  the  evening,  when  the  champagne  had  flowed  freely, 
he  indulged  in  what  appeared  to  be  his  impromptu 
individual  opinions,  but  he  unluckily  dropped  at  his 
seat  a  slip  of  paper  on  which  his  gushing  sentences 
had  been  carefully  written  out.  General  Houston 
managed  to  leave  the  table  in  time  to  avoid  being 
called  upon  to  speak,  and  General  Scott,  who  regarded 
Kossuth  as  a  gigantic  humbug,  had  escaped  to  Rich- 
mond. Kossuth  was  invited  to  dine  at  the  White 
House,  and  on  New  Year's  day  he  held  a  reception, 
but  he  failed  in  his  attempt  to  secure  Congressional 
recognition  or  material  aid. 

A  number  of  the  leading  public  men  at  Washington 
were  so  disgusted  by  the  assumption  and  arrogance 
displayed  by  Kossuth,  and  by  the  toadyism  manifested 
by  many  of  those  who  humbled  themselves  before  him, 
that  they  organized  a  banquet,  at  which  Senator  Crit- 
tenden  was  the  principal  speaker.  "  Beware,"  said 
the  eloquent  Kentuckian,  in  the  words  of  Washington, 


406  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

u  of  the  introduction  or  exercise  of  a  foreign  influence 
among  you  !  We  are  Americans  !  The  Father  of  our 
Country  has  taught  us,  and  we  have  learned,  to  gov- 
ern ourselves.  If  the  rest  of  the  world  have  not 
learned  that  lesson,  how  shall  they  teach  us  ?  We 
are  the  teachers,  and  yet  they  appear  here  with  a  new 
exposition  of  Washington's  Farewell  Address.  For 
one,  I  do  not  want  this  new  doctrine.  I  want  to  stand 
super  antiquas  vias — upon  the  old  road  that  Washing- 
ton traveled,  and  that  every  President  from  Washing- 
ton to  Fillmore  has  traveled." 

The  main  effect  of  Kossuth's  visit  to  the  United 
States  was  an  extraordinary  impetus  given  to  "The 
Order  of  United  Americans,"  from  which  was  evolved 
that  political  phenomenon,  the  American,  or  Know- 
Nothing,  party.  The  mysterious  movements  of  this 
organization  attracted  the  curiosity  of  the  people,  and 
members  of  the  old  political  organizations  eagerly  de- 
sired to  learn  what  was  carefully  concealed.  Secretly- 
held  lodges,  with  their  paraphernalia,  pass-words,  and 
degrees,  grips  and  signs,  tickled  the  popular  fancy,  and 
the  new  organization  became  formidable.  Men  of  all 
religions  and  political  creeds  fraternized  beneath  the 
"  stars  and  stripes,"  and  solemnly  pledged  themselves 
to  the  support  of  "  our  country,  our  whole  country, 
and  nothing  but  our  country." 

The  leaders  of  this  Know-Nothing  movement,  who 
in  the  delirium  of  the  hour  were  intrusted  with  dicta- 
torial authority,  were  in  no  way  calculated  to  exercise 
a  permanent,  healthful  control.  They  were  generally 
without  education,  without  statesmanship,  without 
knowledge  of  public  affairs,  and,  to  speak  plainly, 
without  the  abilities  or  genius  which  might  enable 
them  to  dispense  with  experience.  Losing  sight  of  the 


Boss   Tweed  and  his  Boys.  407 

cardinal  principle  of  the  American  Order,  that  only 
those  identified  with  the  Republic  by  birth  or  perma- 
nent residence  should  manage  its  political  affairs,  these 
leaders  fell  back  upon  a  bigoted  hostility  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  to  which  many  of  their  original  members  in 
Louisiana  and  elsewhere  belonged.  The  result  was 
that  the  mighty  organization  had  begun  to  decay  be- 
fore it  attained  its  growth,  and  that  the  old  political 
leaders  became  members  that  they  might  elbow  the  im- 
provised chieftains  from  power  when  the  effervescence 
of  the  movement  should  subside.  A  number  of  Abo- 
litionists, headed  by  Henry  Wilson  and  Anson  Bur- 
lingame,  of  Massachusetts,  sought  admission  into  the 
lodges,  knelt  at  the  altars,  pledged  themselves  by 
solemn  oaths  to  support  the  "  Order,"  and  then  used  it 
with  great  success  for  the  destruction  of  the  Whig 
party. 

Another  noted  person  who  visited  Washington  early 
in  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Fillmore  was  William  M. 
Tweed,  of  New  York,  who  came  as  foreman  of  the 
Americus  Engine  Company,  Number  Six,  a  volunteer 
fire  organization.  Visiting  the  White  House,  the  com- 
pany was  ushered  into  the  Hast  Room,  where  President 
Fillmore  soon  appeared,  and  Tweed,  stepping  out  in 
front  of  his  command,  said :  "  These  are  Big  Six's 
boys,  Mr.  President  I"  He  then  walked  along  the  line 
with  Mr.  Fillmore,  and  introduced  each  member  indi- 
vidually. As  they  were  leaving  the  room,  a  newspaper 
reporter  asked  Tweed  why  he  had  not  made  a  longer 
speech.  "  There  was  no  necessity,"  replied  the  future 
pillager  of  the  city  treasury  of  New  York,  "  for  the 
Company  is  as  much  grander  than  any  other  fire  com- 
pany in  the  world  as  Niagara  Falls  is  grander  than 
Croton  dam."  Two  years  afterward,  Tweed,  profiting 


408 


Pe-rley*s  Reminiscences. 


by  a  division  in  the  Whig  ranks  in  the  Fifth  District  of 
New  York,  returned  to  Washington  as  a  Representa- 
tive in  Congress.  He  was  a  regular  attendant,  never 
participating  in  the  debates,  and  always  voting  with  the 
Democrats.  Twice  he  read  speeches  which  were  writ- 
ten for  him,  and  he  obtained  for  a  relative  the  contract 


' 

W,j!*iijV"&=- 

'^".rpT-T^ 


TWEED   INTRODUCING  BIG  SIX'S   BOYS. 

for  supplying  the  House  with  chairs  for  summer  use, 
which  were  worthless  and  soon  disappeared. 

Senator  Andrew  Pickens  Butler  was  a  prominent 
figure  at  the  Capitol  and  in  Washington  society.  He 
was  a  trifle  larger  round  at  the  waistband  than  any- 
where else,  his  long  white  hair  stood  out  as  if  he  were 
charged  with  electric  fluid,  and  South  Carolina  was 


Sumner  enters  the  Senate.  409 

legibly  written  on  his  rubicund  countenance.  The 
genial  old  patriarch  would  occasionally  take  too  much 
wine  in  the  "  Hole  in  the  Wall "  or  in  some  committee- 
room,  and  then  go  into  the  Senate  and  attempt  to  bully 
Chase  or  Hale ;  but  every  one  liked  him,  nevertheless. 

Then  there  was  Senator  Slidell,  of  Louisiana,  a  New 
Yorker  by  birth,  with  a  florid  face,  long  gray  hair,  and 
prominent  eyes,  forming  a  striking  contrast  in  personal 
appearance  with  his  dapper  little  colleague,  Senator 
Benjamin,  whose  features  disclosed  his  Jewish  extrac- 
tion. General  Taylor  had  wished  to  have  Mr.  Benja- 
min in  his  Cabinet,  but  scandalous  reports  concerning 
Mrs.  Benjamin  had  reached  Washington,  and  the  Gen- 
eral was  informed  that  she  would  not  be  received  in 
society.  Mr.  Benjamin  then  rented  a  house  at  Wash- 
ington, furnished  it  handsomely,  and  entertained  with 
lavish  hospitality.  His  gentlemen  friends  would  eat 
his  dinners,  but  they  would  not  bring  their  wives  or 
daughters  to  Mrs.  Benjamin's  evening  parties,  and  she, 
deeply  mortified,  went  to  Paris. 

On  the  first  day  of  December,  1851,  Henry  Clay 
spoke  in  the  Senate  for  the  last  time,  and  General 
Cass  presented  the  credentials  of  Charles  Sumner, 
who  had  been  elected  by  one  of  the  coalitions  between 
the  anti-slavery  Know-Nothings  and  the  Democrats, 
which  gave  the  latter  the  local  offices  in  New  York, 
Ohio,  and  Massachusetts,  and  elected  Seward,  Chase, 
and  Sumner  to  the  United  States  Senate.  Soon  after 
Mr.  Sumner  took  his  seat  in  the  arena  which  had  been 
made  famous  by  the  political  champions  of  the  North, 
the  South,  and  the  West,  Mr.  Beiiton  said  to  him,  with 
a  patronizing  air,  "  You  have  come  upon  the  stage  too 
late,  sir.  Not  only  have  our  great  men  passed  away, 
but  the  great  issues  have  been  settled  also.  The  last 


4io  Per ley^s  Reminiscences. 

of  these  was  the  National  Bank,  and  that  has  been 
overthrown  forever.  Nothing  is  left  you,  sir,  but  puny 
sectional  questions  and  petty  strifes  about  slavery  and 
fugitive  slave-laws,  involving  no  national  interests." 

Mr.  Sumner  had  but  two  coadjutors  in  opposing 
slavery  and  in  advocating  freedom  when  he  entered  the 
Senate,  but  before  he  died  he  was  the  recognized  leader 
of  more  than  two-thirds  of  that  body.  He  was  de- 
nounced by  a  leading  Whig  newspaper  of  Boston  when 
he  left  that  city  to  take  his  seat  as  "an agitator,"  and 
he  was  refused  a  place  on  any  committee  of  the  Senate, 
as  being  "  outside  of  any  healthy  political  organiza- 
tion," but  he  lived  to  exercise  a  controlling  influence  in 
Massachusetts  politics  and  to  be  the  Chairman  of  the 
Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  He  had  learned 
from  Judge  Story  the  value  of  systematic  industry,  and 
while  preparing  long  speeches  on  the  questions  before 
the  Senate  he  also  applied  himself  sedulously  to  the 
practical  duties  of  a  Senator,  taking  especial  pains  to 
answer  every  letter  addressed  to  him. 

Mr.  Speaker  Linn  Boyd  used  to  preside  with  great 
dignity,  sitting  on  an  elevated  platform  beneath  a  can- 
opy of  scarlet  curtains.  Seated  at  his  right  hand,  at 
the  base  of  the  platform  beside  the  "  mace,"  was  An- 
drew Jackson  Glossbrenner,  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  and 
on  the  opposite  side  was  Mr.  McKnew,  the  Doorkeeper. 
Mr.  John  W.  Forney  officiated  at  the  Clerk's  table,  hav- 
ing been  elected  by  a  decided  majority.  His  defeat 
two  years  previous  had  been  very  annoying  to  his 
Democratic  friends  at  the  North,  who  were  expected  to 
aid  the  Southern  wing  of  the  party  with  their  votes, 
and  yet  were  often  deserted  when  they  desired  offices. 
"  It  is,"  said  one  of  them,  "  paying  us  a  great  compli- 
ment for  our  principles,  or  great  contempt  for  our 


Forney's  Fidelity.  411 

pliancy."  Mr.  Buchanan  wrote  to  a  Virginia  Demo- 
cratic leader,  "  Poor  Forney  deserves  a  better  fate  than 
to  be  wounded  '  in  the  house  of  his  friends,'  and  to  vote 
for  a  Whig  in  preference  to  him  was  the  unkindest  cut 
of  all.  It  will,  I  am  confident,  produce  no  change  in 
his  editorial  course,  but  I  dread  its  effect."  Mr.  Forney 
did  not  permit  his  desertion  to  influence  his  pen,  and 
his  loyalty  to  his  party  was  rewarded  by  his  election, 
two  years  after  this  defeat,  as  Clerk  of  the  House. 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS  was  born  in  Christian  County,  Kentucky,  June  y±,  1808;  graduated  at  West 
Point  in  1828;  was  an  officer  in  the  United  States  Army,  1828-1835;  was  a  Representative  from 
Mississippi,  December  ist,  1845,  to  June,  1846,  when  he  resigned  to  command  the  First  Regiment  of 
Mississippi  Riflemen  in  the  war  with  Mexico;  was  United  States  Senator,  December  6th,  1847,  to 
November,  1851 ;  was  defeated  as  the  Secession  candidate  for  Governor  of  Mississippi  in  1851  by 
H.  S.  Foote,  Union  candidate;  was  Secretary  of  War  under  President  Pierce,  March  yth,  1853,  to 
March  3d,  1857;  was  again  United  States  Senator,  March  4th,  1857,  unt'l  he  withdrew,  January 
2ist,  1861 ;  was  President  of  the  Confederate  States ;  was  captured  by  the  United  States  troops, 
May  ioth,  1865,  imprisoned  two  years  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  then  released  on  bail. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

PLOTTING   FOR  THE   PRESIDENCY. 

PRESIDENT-MAKING — POLITICAL  INTRIGUES— THE  DEMOCRATIC  CONVEN- 
TION— NOMINATION  OP  GENERAL  PIERCE  —THE  WHIG  CANDIDATES — 
RIVALRY  BETWEEN  WEBSTER  AND  FILLMORE— THE  LAST  WHIG  NA- 
TIONAL CONVENTION — DEATH  OF  HENRY  CLAY — GENERAL  SCOTT  AS 
A  CANDIDATE— GENERAL  FRANK  PIERCE,  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE — 
DEATH  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER — GENERAL  PIERCE  ELECTED  PRESIDENT. 

THE  first  session  of  the  Thirty-second  Congress, 
which  began  on  the  ist  of  August,  1852,  was 
characterized  by  sectional  strife,  and  was  de- 
voted to  President-making.  President  Fillmore,  who 
had  traveled  in  the  Northern  States  during  the  preced- 
ing summer,  felt  confident  that  he  would  receive  the 
Whig  nomination,  and  so  did  Mr.  Webster,  who 
"  weighed  him  down " — so  Charles  Francis  Adams 
wrote  Henry  Wilson — "  as  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea 
did  Sinbad."  Meanwhile  Mr.  Seward  and  his  hench- 
man, Mr.  Weed,  were  very  active,  and  the  latter  after- 
ward acknowledged  that  he  had  himself  intrigued  with 
the  Democratic  leaders  for  the  nomination  of  Governor 
Marcy,  who  would  be  sure  to  carry  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  thus  secure  the  defeat  of  the  Whig  candi- 
date. "  Holding  President  Fillmore  and  his  Secretary 
of  State,  Mr.  Webster,  responsible  for  a  temporary 
overthrow  of  the  Whig  party,"  says  Mr.  Weed,  "  I 
desired  to  see  those  gentlemen  left  to  reap  what  they 
had  sown.  In  other  words,  I  wanted  either  Mr.  Fill- 
412 


Pierce  for  President. 


413 


more  or  Mr.  Webster  to  be  nominated  for  President 
upon  their  own  issues.  I  devoted  several  weeks  to  the 
removal  of  obstacles  in  the  way  of  Governor  Marcy's 
nomination  for  President  by  the  Democratic  National 
Convention." 

General  Cass,  Mr.  Douglas,  and  Mr.  Buchanan  were 
equally  active  in  the  Democratic  ranks,  and  their  re- 
spective friends  became  so  angry  with  each  other  that 
it  was  an  easy  matter 
to  win  the  nomination 
with  what  the   politi- 
cians   call    "  a    dark 
horse." 

The  sessions  of  the 
National  Democratic 
Convention  were  pro- 
tracted and  stormy, 
and  on  the  thirty-fifth 
ballot  the  name  of  Gen- 
eral Franklin  Pierce 
was  brought  forward, 
for  the  first  time,  by 
the  Virginia  delega- 
tion. Several  other 
States  voted  for  the 
New  Hampshire  Brigadier,  but  it  did  not  seem  possible 
that  he  could  be  nominated,  and  the  next  day,  on  the 
forty-eighth  ballot,  Virginia  gave  her  vote  for  Daniel  S. 
Dickinson,  of  New  York.  It  was  received  with  great 
applause,  but  Mr.  Dickinson,  who  was  a  delegate  pledged 
to  the  support  of  Cass,  was  too  honorable  a  man  to 
accept  what  he  thought  belonged  to  his  friend.  Re- 
ceiving permission  to  address  the  Convention,  he  elo- 
quently withdrew  his  own  name  and  pleaded  so  earnestly 


LEWIS  CASS. 


414  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

for  the  nomination  of  General  Cass,  that  he  awakened 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  audience,  and  received  a  shower 
of  bouquets  from  the  ladies  in  the  galleries,  to  which 
he  gracefully  alluded  "  as  a  rose-bud  in  the  wreath  of 
his  political  destiny." 

The  Convention  at  last,  on  the  forty-ninth  ballot, 
nominated  General  Pierce  (Purse,  his  friends  called 
him),  a  gentleman  of  courteous  temper,  highly  agree- 
able manners,  and  convivial  nature.  He  had  served  in 
the  recent  war  with  Mexico  ;  he  had  never  given  a  vote 
or  written  a  sentence  that  the  straightest  Southern 
Democrat  could  wish  to  blot ;  and  he  was  identified 
with  the  slave-power,  having  denounced  its  enemies  as 
the  enemies  of  the  Constitution.  William  R.  King, 
at  the  time  president  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  was 
nominated  for  Vice-President,  receiving  every  vote 
except  the  eleven  given  by  the  delegation  from  Illinois, 
which  were  for  Jefferson  Davis.  Cass  and  Douglas 
were  at  first  much  provoked  by  the  action  of  the  Con- 
vention, but  Buchanan  gracefully  accepted  the  situa- 
tion. 

Daniel  Webster  felt  and  asserted  that  he  was  entitled 
to  receive  the  Whig  nomination.  More  than  thirty 
years  of  public  service  had  made  him  the  ablest  and 
the  most  conspicuous  member  of  his  party  then  on  the 
stage,  and  neither  Fillmore  nor  Scott  could  compare  with 
him  in  the  amount  and  value  of  public  services  rendered. 
He  had  worked  long,  assiduously,  and  faithfully  to  de- 
serve the  honors  of  his  party  and  to  qualify  himself 
for  the  highest  distinction  that  party  could  bestow  upon 
him.  He  must  receive  its  nomination  now  or  never, 
as  he  was  then  upward  of  sixty  years  of  age,  and  his 
vigorous  constitution  had  shown  signs  of  decay.  He 
engaged  in  the  campaign,  however,  with  the  hope  and 


Skirmishing  for  the  Presidency.  415 

the  vigor  of  youth,  writing  letters  to  his  friends,  circu- 
lating large  pamphlet  editions  of  his  life  and  of  his 
speeches,  and  entertaining  at  his  table  those  through 
whose  influence  he  hoped  to  receive  the  Southern  sup- 
port necessary  to  secure  his  success.  No  statesman 
ever  understood  the  value  of  printer's  ink  better  than 
did  Mr.  Webster,  and  he  always  took  care  to  have  a 
record  of  what  he  did  and  said  placed  before  the 
country.  Unfortunately  for  his  printers,  much  of  his 
last  .campaign  work  was  done  on  credit,  and  never  was 
paid  for. 

President  Fillmore,  meanwhile,  was  quietly  but 
steadily  using  the  patronage  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  secure  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  Whig 
National  Convention  friendly  to  his  own  nomination. 
Mr.  Webster  counted  on  the  support  of  the  President's 
friends,  but  he  never  received  from  Mr.  Fillmore  any 
pledges  that  it  would  be  given.  On  the  contrary,  the 
leading  office-holders  asserted,  weeks  prior  to  the 
assembling  of  the  Convention,  that  the  contest  had 
already  been  narrowed  down  to  a  question  between 
Fillmore  and  Scott.  Mr.  Seward's  friends  were  of  the 
same  opinion,  and  urged  the  support  of  Scott  as  the 
only  way  to  defeat  the  nomination  of  Fillmore.  Horace 
Greeley  wrote  from  Washington  to  Thurlow  Weed : 
"  If  Fillmore  and  Webster  will  only  use  each  other  up, 
we  may  possibly  recover — but  our  chance  is  slim. 
There  is  a  powerful  interest  working  hard  against 
Douglas ;  Buchanan  will  have  to  fight  hard  for  his 
own  State ;  if  he  gets  it  he  may  be  nominated ;  Cass 
is  nowhere." 

The  Whig  National  Convention,  the  last  one  held 
by  that  party,  met  in  Baltimore  on  Wednesday,  the 
1 6th  of  June,  1852.  Two  days  were  spent  in  effecting 


416 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


an  organization  and  in  preparing  a  "  platform,"  after 
which,  on  proceeding  to  ballot  for  a  Presidential  candi- 
date, General  Scott  had  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
votes,  Mr.  Fillmore  one  hundred  and  thirty-three,  and 
Mr.  Webster  twenty-nine,  every  one  of  which  was  cast 


CHAPULTEPEC,  STORMED   BY   GENERAL    SCOTT. 

by  a  Northern  delegate.  Not  a  Southern  vote  was 
given  to  him,  despite  all  the  promises  made,  but  Mr. 
Fillmore  received  the  entire  Southern  strength.  The 
balloting  was  continued  until  Saturday  afternoon  with- 
out any  change,  and  even  the  eloquence  of  Ruftis 
Choate  failed  to  secure  the  vote  of  a  single  Southern 


418  Per ley^s  Reminiscences. 

delegate  for  his  cherished  friend.  After  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  Convention  from  Saturday  until  Monday, 
Mr.  Choate  visited  Washington,  hoping  to  move  Mr. 
Fillmore ;  but  the  President  "  made  no  sign,"  and  Mr. 
Webster  saw  that  the  Presidency,  to  which  he  had  sc 
long  aspired,  was  to  pass  beyond  his  reach.  He  was 
saddened  by  the  disappointment,  and  especially 
wounded  when  he  was  informed  that  Mr.  Clay  had 
advised  the  Southern  delegates  to  support  Mr.  Fill- 
more. 

A  nomination  was  finally  made  on  the  fifty-third 
ballot,  when  twenty-eight  delegates  from  Pennsylvania 
changed  their  votes  from  Fillmore  to  General  Scott. 
That  evening  a  party  of  enthusiastic  Whigs  at  Wash- 
ington, after  serenading  President  Fillmore,  marched 
to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Webster.  The  band  performed 
several  patriotic  airs,  but  some  time  elapsed  before  Mr. 
Webster  appeared,  wearing  a  long  dressing-gown,  and 
looking  sad  and  weary.  He  said  but  a  few  words, 
making  no  allusion  to  General  Scott,  and  when,  in 
conclusion,  he  said  that,  for  one,  he  should  sleep  well 
and  rise  with  the  lark  the  next  morning,  and  bade 
them  good-night,  the  serenaders  retired  as  if  they  had 
had  a  funeral  sermon  preached  to  them.  Thenceforth 
Mr.  Webster  was  a  disappointed,  heart-stricken  man, 
and  he  retired  to  Marshfield  profoundly  disgusted  with 
the  insincerity  of  politicians. 

The  noisy  rejoicings  by  the  Whigs  at  Washington 
over  the  nomination  of  General  Scott  disturbed  Henry 
Clay,  who  lay  on  his  death-bed  at  the  National  Hotel, 
attended  only  by  one  of  his  sons,  Thomas  Hart  Clay, 
and  a  negro  servant.  The  "  Great  Commoner "  was 
very  feeble,  and  a  few  days  later  he  breathed  his  last, 
as  a  Christian  philosopher  should  die.  His  hope  con- 


Last  Hours  of  Clay.  419 

tinued  to  the  end,  though  true  and  real,  to  be  tremu- 
lous with  humility  rather  than  rapturous  with  assur- 
ance. On  the  evening  previous  to  his  departure,  sit- 
ting an  hour  in  silence  by  his  side,  the  Rev.  Dr.  But- 
ler heard  him,  in  the  slight  wanderings  of  his  mind  to 
other  days  and  other  scenes,  murmuring  the  words, 
"My  mother!  mother!  mother!"  and  saying  "My 
dear  wife,"  as  if  she  were  present. 

"  Broken  with  the  storms  of  life,"  Henry  Clay  gave 
up  the  ghost,  and  his  remains  were  escorted  with  high 
funeral  honors  to  his  own  beloved  Commonwealth  of 
Kentucky,  where  they  rest  beneath  an  imposing  monu- 
ment. Twice  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and 
twice  defeated,  his  death  was  mourned  by  an  immense 
number  of  attached  personal  friends,  and  generally 
regretted  by  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

The  Whigs  were  greatly  embarrassed  by  General 
Scott,  who  persisted  in  making  campaign  speeches, 
some  of  which  did  him  great  harm.  Their  mass  meet- 
ings proved  failures,  notably  one  on  the  battle-ground 
of  Niagara,  but  they  endeavored  to  atone  for  these  dis- 
couraging events  by  a  profuse  distribution  of  popular 
literature.  They  circulated  large  editions  of  a  tract 
by  Horace  Greeley,  entitled,  "  Why  am  I  a  Whig  ?" 
and  of  campaign  lives  of  "  Old  Chapultepec,"  pub- 
lished in  Bnglish,  French,  and  German.  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan was  unusually  active  in  his  opposition  to  the 
Whig  ticket.  "  I  should  regard  Scott's  election,"  he 
wrote  to  a  friend,  "  as  one  of  the  greatest  cala  Cities 
which  could  befall  the  country.  I  know  him  well,  and 
do  not  doubt  either  his  patriotism  or  his  integrity  ;  but 
he  is  vain  beyond  any  man  I  have  ever  known,  and, 
what  is  remarkable  in  a  vain  man,  he  is  obstinate  and 
self-willed  and  unyielding.  His  judgment,  except  in 


420  Perley*s   Reminiscences. 

conducting  a  campaign  in  the  field,  is  perverse  and  un- 
sound ;  and  when,  added  to  all  this,  we  consider  that, 
if  elected  at  all,  it  will  be  under  the  auspices  of  Sew- 
ard  and  his  Abolition  associates,  I  fear  for  the  fate  of 
this  Union."  General  Scott  was  mercilessly  abused  by 
the  Democratic  orators  and  writers  also,  who  even  ridi- 
culed the  establishment  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  at 
Washington,  with  the  contribution  levied  on  the  City 


THE  SOLDIERS'    HOME 


of  Mexico  when  captured  by  him,  as  the  creation  of  an 
aristocratic  body  of  military  paupers. 

The  Democratic  party,  forgetting  all  previous  differ- 
ences, rallied  to  the  support  of  their  candidate.  A  cam- 
paign life  of  him  was  written  by  his  old  college  friend, 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  and  eloquent  speakers  extolled 
his  statesmanship,  his  military  services,  and  his  devo- 
tion to  the  compromise  measures  which  were  to  avert 
the  threatened  civil  war.  A  good  estimate  of  his  char- 
acter was  told  by  the  Whig  speakers,  as  having  been 
given  to  an  itinerant  lecturer  by  the  landlord  of  a  New 


Last  Hours  of  Webster.  421 

Hampshire  village  inn.  "  What  sort  of  a  man  is  Gen- 
eral Pierce  ?"  asked  the  traveler.  "  Waal,  up  here, 
where  everybody  knows  Frank  Pierce,"  was  the  reply, 
a  and  where  Frank  Pierce  knows  everybody,  he's  a 
pretty  considerable  fellow,  I  tell  you.  But  come  to 
spread  him  out  over  this  whole  country,  I'm  afraid  that 
he'll  be  dreadful  thin  in  some  places." 

The  death  of  Mr.  Webster  aided  the  Democratic  can- 
didate. The  broken-down  and  disappointed  statesman 
died  at  his  loved  rural  home  on  the  sea-shore,  where,  by 
his  request,  his  cattle  were  driven  beneath  his  window 
so  that  he  could  gaze  on  them  once  more  before  he  left 
them  forever.  He  wrestled  with  the  grim  Destroyer, 
showing  a  reluctance  to  abandon  life,  and  looking  into 
the  future  with  apprehension  rather  than  with  hope. 
When  Dr.  Jeffries  repeated  to  him  the  soothing 
words  of  Sacred  Writ,  "  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff  they 
comfort  me,"  the  dying  statesman  exclaimed,  "  Yes ; 
that  is  what  I  want,  Thy  rod;  Thy  staff!"  He  was  no 
hypocrite,  and  although  he  prayed  often  and  earnestly, 
he  did  not  pretend  that  he  felt  that  peace  "which  passeth 
all  understanding,"  but  he  did  exhibit  a  devoted  sub- 
mission and  a  true  reliance  on  Almighty  God.  Craving 
stimulants,  he  had  heard  Dr.  Jeffries  tell  an  attendant, 
"  Give  him  a  spoonful  of  brandy  in  fifteen  minutes, 
another  in  half  an  hour,  and  another  in  three  quarters 
of  an  hour,  if  he  still  lives."  These  directions  were 
followed  with  exactness  until  the  arrival  of  the  time 
last  mentioned,  when  the  attendants  were  undecided 
about  administering  another  dose.  It  was  in  the  midst 
of  their  doubts  that  the  dying  statesman,  who  had  been 
watching  a  clock  in  the  room,  partly  raised  his  head 
and  feebly  remarked  :  "  I  still  live."  The  brandy  was 
given  to  him,  and  he  sank  into  a  state  of  tranquil  un- 
consciousness, from  which  he  never  rallied. 


422 


Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 


Those  who  attended  the  funeral  at  Marshfield  saw 
Mr.  Webster's  remains  lying  in  an  open  iron  coffin,  be- 
neath the  shade  of  a  large  elm  tree  before  the  house. 
The  body  was  dressed  in  a  blue  coat  with  gilt  buttons, 
white  vest,  cravat,  pantaloons,  gloves,  and  shoes  with 
dark  cloth  gaiters.  His  hand  rested  upon  his  breast, 
and  his  features  wore  a  sad  smile  familiar  to  those  who 
had  known  him  in  his  later  years.  The  village  pastor 
conducted  the  services,  after  which  the  upper  half  of 
the  coffin  was  put  on,  and  on  a  low  platform  car,  drawn 


WEBSTER'S  GF.A.VE  AT   MARSHFIELD. 


by  two  black  horses,  it  was  taken  to  the  burial-ground 
on  the  estate.  On  either  side  of  the  remains  walked 
the  pall-bearers  selected  by  the  deceased — six  sturdy, 
weather-bronzed  farmer-fishermen,  who  lived  in  the 
vicinity — while  General  Pierce,  the  Mayor  of  Boston, 
Edward  Everett,  Rufus  Choate,  and  other  distinguished 
personages  followed  as  they  best  could.  There  were 
many  evidences  of  grief  among  the  thousands  of  Mr. 
Webster's  friends  present,  and  yet  death  was  for  him  a 
happy  escape  from  trouble.  He  was  painfully  aware 


Everett  Succeeds   Webster.  423 

that  he  had  forfeited  the  political  confidence  of  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  and  gained  nothing  by  so 
doing  ;  he  had  found  that  he  could  not  receive  a  nomi- 
nation for  the  Presidency,  even  from  the  party  which 
he  had  so  long  served,  and  his  pecuniary  embarrass- 
ments were  very  annoying.  Neither  could  he,  under 
the  circumstances,  have  continued  to  hold  office  under 
Mr.  Fillmore,  who,  after  Webster's  funeral,  appointed 
Bdward  Everett  as  his  successor  in  the  Department  of 
State. 

When  the  nineteenth  Presidential  election  was  held, 
General  Scott  received  only  the  electoral  votes  of 
Massachusetts,  Vermont,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee ; 
Pierce  and  King  received  two  hundred  and  fifty-four 
votes  against  forty-two  votes  for  Scott  and  Graham. 


JOHN  JORDAN  CRITTENDEN  was  born  in  Woodford  County,  Kentucky,  September  loth,  1786 ;  was 
United^States  Senator  from  Kentucky,  December  ist,  1817,  to  March  3d,  1819,  and  again  December 
7th,  1835,  to  March  3d,  1841;  was  Attorney-General  under  President  Harrison,  March  5th,  1841,  to 
September  isth,  1841;  was  again  United  States  Senator,  March  3151,  1842-1848;  was  Governor  of 
Kentucky,  1848-1850 ;  was  Attorney-General  under  President  Fillmore,  July  aoth,  1850,  to  March  3d, 
1853 ;  was  aeain  United  States  Senator,  December  3d,  1855,  to  March  3d,  1861 ;  was  a  Representa- 
tive in  Congress,  July  4th,  1861,  to  March  3d,  1863,  and  died  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  July  26th,  1863. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

PIERCE  AT  THE  HELM. 

INAUGURATION  OP  PRESIDENT  PIERCE— VICE-PRESIDENT  KING— THE 
CABINET — POPULARITY  OF  THE  NEW  PRESIDENT — PRYOR,  OP  VIR- 
GINIA—RARE OLD  WINES — PEALE'S  PORTRAITS  OP  WASHINGTON- 
BRADY*  PORTRAITS — VISIT  OP  THACKERAY — A  COPYRIGHT  VICTIM — 
JULLIEN'S  CONCERTS. 

GENERAL  PIERCE  received  a  severe  blow 
after  his  election,  a  railroad  accident  in  Mas- 
sachusetts depriving  him  of  his  only  child,  a 
promising  boy,  to  whom  he  was  devotedly  attached.  'A 
week  before  the  inauguration  he  escorted  his  sorrow- 
stricken  wife  to  Baltimore,  where  he  left  her,  and  then 
went  to  Washington,  accompanied  by  his  private  secre- 
tary, Mr.  Sidney  Webster.  President  Fill  more  invited 
them  to  dine  socially  at  the  White  House,  and  in  the 
evening  they  were  present  at  a  numerously  attended 
public  reception  in  the  East  Room. 

The  inauguration  of  General  Pierce  attracted  crowds 
from  the  cities  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  with  some  from 
the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies.  It  was  a  coM, 
raw  day,  and  the  President-elect  rode  in  a  carriage  witb 
President  Fillmore,  surrounded  by  a  body-guard  of 
young  gentlemen,  mounted  on  fine  horses,  and  serving 
for  that  day  as  Deputy  United  States  Marshals.  There 
was  a  military  escort,  composed  of  the  Marine  Corps, 
the  uniformed  militia  of  the  District,  and  visiting  com- 
panies from  Baltimore  and  Alexandria.  Behind  the 
424 


Pierces  Inauguration. 


425 


President's  carriage  marched  several  political  associa- 
tions and  the  mechanics  at  the  Navy  Yard,  with  a  full- 
rigged  miniature  vessel. 

As  William  R.  King,  the  Vice-President-elect,  was  in 
Cuba,  hoping  to  benefit  his  health,  the  Senate  elected 


FRANKLTN   PIERCE. 


David  J.  Atchison,  of  Missouri,  President  pro  tempore. 
The  Senate,  accompanied  by  the  Diplomatic  Corps  and 
officers  of  the  army  and  of  the  navy,  all  in  full  uni- 
form, then  moved  in  procession  to  the  east  front  of  the 
Capitol.  When  the  cheers  with  which  the  President- 
elect was  received  had  subsided,  he  advanced  to  the 


426 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


front  of  the  platform  and  delivered  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress, which  he  had  committed  to  memory,  although  he 
held  the  manuscript  in  his  hands. 

The  personal  appearance  of  General  Pierce  was  dig- 
nified and  winning,  if  not  im- 
posing, although  he  was  but 
five  feet  nine  inches  high, 
slenderly  built,  and  with- 
out that  depth  of  chest 
or  breadth  of  shoul- 
der which   indi- 
cate vigorous 
constitu- 
tions. 
His 


EASTERN   PORTICO   OF  THE   CAPITOL. 


complexion  was  pale  and  his  features  were  thin  and  care- 
worn, but  his  deportment  was  graceful  and  authoritative. 
It  was  evident  that  he  belonged  to  that  active,  wiry  class 
of  men  capable  of  great  endurance  and  physical  fatigue. 
The  inaugural  was  a  plain,  straightforward  document, 


The  Vice-Presidents  Death.  427 

intensely  national  in  tone,  and  it  stirred  the  hearts  of 
the  vast  audience  which  heard  it  like  .the  clarion  notes 
of  a  trumpet.  The  new  President  had  an  abiding  con- 
fidence in  the  stability  of  our  institutions.  Snow  be- 
gan to  fall  before  he  had  concluded  his  address  and 
taken  the  oath  of  office,  which  was  administered  by 
Chief  Justice  Taney. 

William  Rufus  King  took  the  oath  of  office  as  Vice- 
President  on  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  at  a  plantation  on 
the  highest  of  the  hills  that  surround  Matanzas,  with 
the  luxuriant  vegetation  of  Cuba  all  around,  the  clear, 
blue  sky  of  the  tropics  overhead,  and  a  delicious  sea 
breeze  cooling  the  pure  atmosphere.  The  oath  was  ad- 
ministered by  United  States  Consul  Rodney,  and  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  ceremonies  the  assembled  Creoles 
shouted,  "  Vaya  vol  con  Dies  /"  (God  will  be  with  you), 
while  the  veteran  politician  appeared  calm,  as  one  who 
had  fought  the  good  fight  and  would  soon  lay  hold  of 
eternal  life.  Reaching  his  home  at  Cahaba,  Ala.,  on 
the  i  yth  of  April,  he  died  the  following  day,  and  his 
remains  were  buried  on  his  plantation,  known  as  the 
"  Pine  Hills." 

President  Pierce  formed  a  Cabinet  of  remarkable 
ability.  He  had  wanted  Caleb  Cushing  as  his  Secre- 
tary of  State,  but  the  old  anti-slavery  utterances  of  the 
Massachusetts  Brigadier  had  not  been  forgotten,  and 
Pierce  could  make  him  only  his  Attorney-General. 
Governor  Marcy  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  and  he  invited  Mr.  George  Sumner,  a 
brother  of  the  Senator,  to  become  Assistant  Secretary 
of  State,  but  the  invitation  was  declined.  James  Guth- 
rie,  a  stalwart,  clear-headed  Kentuckian,  was  made 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  with  Peter  G.  Washington, 
a  veteran  District  politician,  as  Assistant  Secretary. 


428  Perley^s   Reminiscences. 

Jefferson  Davis  solicited  and  received  the  position  of 
Secretary  of  War,  James  C.  Dobbin,  of  North  Carolina, 
was  made  Secretary  of  the  Navy  ;  Robert  McClelland, 
of  Michigan,  was  designated  by  General  Cass  for  Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior,  and  James  Campbell,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, was  appointed  Postmaster-General,  with  thirty 
thousand  subordinate  places  to  be  filled,  its  progressive 
improvements  to  be  looked  after,  and  a  general  desire  on 
the  part  of  the  public  for  a  reduction  of  postage.  An . 
abler  Cabinet  never  gathered  around  the  council-table 
at  the  White  House. 

Jefferson  Davis,  the  Secretary  of  War,  entertained 
more  than  any  of  his  associates.  His  dinner-parties,, 
at  which  six  guests  sat  down  with  the  host  and  hostess,, 
were  very  enjoyable,  and  his  evening  receptions,  which 
were  attended  by  the  leading  Southerners  and  their 
Northern  allies,  were  brilliant  affairs  with  one  excep- 
tion. On  that  occasion,  owing,  it  was  said,  to  a 
defect  in  the  gas  meter,  every  light  in  the  house  sud- 
denly ceased  to  burn.  It  was  late,  and  with  great  diffi- 
culty lamps  and  candles  were  obtained  to  enable  the 
guests  to  secure  their  wraps  and  make  their  depar- 
ture. 

No  other  President  ever  won  the  affections  of  the 
people  of  Washington  so  completely  as  did  Gen- 
eral Pierce.  Such  was  the  respect  entertained  for 
him  by  citizens  of  all  political  creeds,  that  when  he 
took  his  customary  "  constitutional  "  walk  down  Penn- 
sylvania Avenue  to  the  Capitol  and  back  one  could 
mark  his  progress  by  the  uplifting  of  hats  as  he  passed 
along.  He  and  Mrs.  Pierce,  disregarding  the  etiquette 
of  the  White  House,  used  to  pay  social  visits  to  the 
families  of  New  Hampshire  friends  holding  clerkships, 
and  to  have  them  as  guests  at  their  family  dinner- 


Journalistic  War.  429 

table.     The  President's  fascinating  courtesy  and  kind- 
ness were  irresistible. 

Roger  A.  Pryor  first  figured  at  Washington  in  the 
spring  of  1853.  He  was  an  editorial  contributor  to 
the  Washington  Union,  the  Democratic  organ,  and  he 
wrote  a  scathing  review  of  The  War  of  Ormusd  and 
Ahriman,  by  Henry  Winter  Davis,  of  Baltimore, 
which  set  forth  the  United  States  and  Russia  as  the 
respective  champions  of  the  principles  of  liberty  and 
of  despotism,  and  claimed  to  foresee  in  the  distant 
future  a  mighty  and  decisive  conflict  between  these 
persistent  combatants.  This  Mr.  Pryor  pronounced 
impossible,  asserting  that  "  in  every  element  of  na- 
tional strength  and  happiness  Russia  is  great  and 
prosperous  beyond  any  other  country  in  Europe,"  and 
that  the  United  States  and  Russia,  instead  of  becoming 
enemies,  "will  consolidate  and  perpetuate  their  friendly 
relations  by  the  same  just  and  pacific  policy  which  has 
regulated  their  intercourse  in  times  past."  This 
article  was  very  distasteful  to  the  Democratic  readers 
of  the  Union,  and  the  editor  denounced  it.  Mr.  Pryor 
came  back  at  him  in  the  Intelligencer,  declaring  that  he 
was  not  the  eulogist  of  the  Russian  Empire,  but  setting 
forth  at  great  length  the  good-will  of  Russia  toward 
the  United  States,  and  especially  announcing  that  "  in 
Russia  the  maudlin,  mock  philanthropy  of  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin  is  an  unknown  disease."  It  was  the 
general  belief  at  Washington  that  Mr.  Pryor  had  been 
inspired  by  some  one  connected  with  the  Russian 
Legation. 

Old  Madeira  wine  has  always  been  very  popular  in 
Washington,  especially  on  the  tables  of  their  Honors  the 
Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court.     For  many  years  sup 
plies  were  obtained  from  the  old  mercantile  houses  in 


430  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

Alexandria,  which  had  made  direct  importations  prior 
to  the  Revolution.  During  the  Fillmore  Administra- 
tion many  Washington  cellars  were  replenished  at  the 
sale  of  the  private  stock  of  wines  and  liquors  of  the 
late  Josiah  Lee,  of  Baltimore.  Fifty  demijohns  of 
various  brands  of  Madeira  were  sold  at  prices  ranging 
from  twenty-four  dollars  to  forty-nine  dollars  per  gal- 
lon ;  and  one  lot  of  twenty-two  bottles  commanded  the 
extreme  price  of  fifteen  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per 
bottle,  which  at  five  bottles  to  the  gallon  is  at  the  rate 
of  seventy-seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  gallon.  • 

Mr.  Brady  came  from  New  York  and  opened  a 
"  daguerrean  saloon  "  at  Washington,  and  the  dim  por- 
traits produced  on  burnished  metal  were  regarded  with 
silent  astonishment.  Up  to'  that  time  the  metropolis 
had  been  visited  every  winter  by  portrait  and  min- 
iature painters,  but  their  work  required  long  sittings 
and  was  expensive.  The  daguerreotypes,  which  could 
be  produced  in  a  few  moments  and  at  a  comparatively 
small  cost,  became  very  popular,  and  Brady's  gallery 
was  thronged  every  morning  with  distinguished  visi- 
tors. Mr.  Brady  was  a  man  of  slight  figure,  well  pro- 
portioned, with  features  somewhat  resembling  the 
portraits  of  Vandyke.  He  possessed  wonderful  pa- 
tience, artistic  skill,  and  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
the  mechanical  and  chemical  features  of  sun-painting. 
For  the  next  thirty  years  he  took  portraits  of  almost 
all  the  prominent  persons  who  visited  Washington 
City,  and  in  time  his  reminiscences  of  them  became 
very  interesting. 

The  citizens  of  Washington  enjoyed  a  rare  treat 
when  Thackeray  came  to  deliver  his  lectures  on  the 
English  essayists,  wits,  and  humorists  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  Accustomed  to  the  spread-eagle  style 


Thackeray's  Lectures. 


43* 


of  oratory  too  prevalent  at  the  Capitol,  they  were  de- 
lighted with  the  pleasing  voice  and  easy  manner  of 
the  burly,  gray-haired,  rosy-cheeked  Briton,  who  made 
no  gestures,  but  stood  most  of  the  time  with  his  hands 
in  his  pockets,  as  if  he  were  talking  with  friends  at  a 
cozy  fireside.  He  did  not  deal,  like  Cervantes,  with 
the  ridiculous  extravagance  of  a  fantastic  order,  nor, 


THACKERAY  AND   MAJOR   LANE. 

like  Washington  Irving,  with  the  faults  and  foibles  of 
men,  but  he  struck  at  the  very  heart  of  the  social  life 
of  his  countrymen's  ancestors  with  caustic  and  relent- 
less satire.  Some  of  the  more  puritanical  objected  to 
the  moral  tendencies  of  Thackeray's  lectures,  and 
argued  that  the  naughty  scapegraces  of  the  British 
court  should  not  have  been  thus  exhumed  for  the  edi- 
fication of  an  American  audience. 


432  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

Thackeray  made  himself  at  home  among  the  work- 
ing journalists  at  Washington,  and  was  always  asking 
questions.  He  was  especially  interested  in  the  trial  of 
Herbert,  a  California  Congressman,  who  had  shot  dead 
at  a  hotel  table  a  waiter  who  had  not  promptly  served 
him,  and  he  appeared  to  study  old  Major  Lane,  a 
"  hunter  from  Kentucky,"  "  half  horse  and  half  alliga- 
tor," but  gentlemanly  in  his  manners,  and  partial  to 
rye-whisky,  ruffled  shirts,  gold-headed  canes,  and  draw- 
poker.  The  Major  had  fought — so  he  said — under 
Jackson  at  New  Orleans,  under  Houston  at  San 
Jacinto,  and  under  Zach.  Taylor  at  Buena  Vista,  and 
he  was  then  prosecuting  a  claim  before  Congress  for 
his  services  as  an  agent  among  the  Yazoo  Indians. 
It  was  better  than  a  play  to  hear  him  talk,  and  to 
observe  Thackeray  as  he  listened. 

Rembrandt  Peale  visited  Washington  during  the 
Pierce  Administration,  and  greatly  interested  those 
who  met  him  with  his  reminiscences.  His  birth  took 
place  while  his  father,  Charles  Wilson  Peale,  was  in 
camp  at  Valley  Forge.  After  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  while  Washington  was  a  resident  of  Phila- 
delphia, Charles  Wilson  Peale  painted  several  portraits 
of  him.  Young  Rembrandt  used  to  pass  much  of  his 
time  in  the  studio,  and  in  1786,  when  the  best  of  the 
portraits  was  painted,  he  stood  at  the  back  of  his  father's 
chair  watching  the  operation.  In  1795,  when  he  was 
but  seventeen  years  of  age,  he  had  himself  become  a 
good  painter,  and  Washington  then  honored  him  with 
three  sittings  of  three  hours  each.  The  young  artist, 
who  was  naturally  timid  and  nervous  in  such  a  pres- 
ence and  at  such  a  work,  got  his  father  to  begin  a  por- 
trait at  the  same  time,  and  to  keep  the  General  in 
conversation  while  the  work  went  on.  The  study  of 


Rembrandt  Peale. 


433 


Washington's  head  then  painted  by  Rembrandt  Peale 
served  as  the  basis  of  the  famous  portrait  of  him  which 
he  afterward  painted,  and  which  was  pronounced  by 
contemporaries  of  Washington  his  best  likeness.  It 
was  exhibited  to  admiring  crowds  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States,  and  in  1832  was  purchased  for  two 


REMBRANDT   PEALE'S  WASHINGTON. 


thousand  dollars  by  the   Federal    Government,  to  be 
hung  in  the  Capitol. 

Rev.  Charles  W.  Upham,  who  represented  the  Essex 
district  of  Massachusetts  in  Congress,  was  at  one  time 
a  victim  to  our  copyright  laws.  He  had  compiled  with 
care  a  life  of  General  Washington,  from  his  own  let- 
ters, which  was,  therefore,  in  some  sense,  an  autobiog- 
28 


434  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

raphy.  The  holders  of  copyright  in  Washington's 
letters,  including,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  Jndge  Wash- 
ington and  Dr.  Sparks,  considered  the  publication  of 
this  book  by  Marsh,  Capen  &  Lyons,  of  Boston,  who 
had  no  permission  from  them,  as  an  infringement  of 
their  copyright.  The  curious  question  thus  presented 
was  tried  before  Judge  Story,  who  held  that  it  was  an 
infringement,  and  granted  an  injunction  against  the 
sale  of  the  book.  The  plates,  thus  becoming  worthless 
here,  were  sold  to  an  English  house,  which  printed 
them. 

Jullien,  the  great  musician,  gave  two  concerts  at  the 
National  Theatre,  Washington,  in  the  fall  of  1853, 
with  his  large  orchestra  and  a  galaxy  of  glorious  stars. 
The  effect  of  many  of  their  performances  was  over- 
powering, and  the  enraptured  multitude  often  for  a 
moment  appeared  to  forget  their  accustomed  restraints, 
and  arose  to  wave  their  scarfs  or  hats  in  triumph,  or 
blended  their  shouts  of  applause  with  the  concluding 
strains  of  the  "  Quadrille  Nationale,"  and  other  en- 
trancing pieces.  The  solos  were  all  magnificent  and 
the  entire  performance  was  a  triumphant  success. 


THADDEUS  STEVENS  was  born  at  Peacham,  Vermont,  April  4th,  1792 ;  was  a  Representative  from 
Pennsylvania,  December  3d,  1849,  to  March  ist,  1853,  and  again  December  sth,  1859,  to  August 
nth,  1868,  when  he  died  at  Washington  City. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

CHIVALRY,    AT   HOME   AND    ABROAD. 

EXECUTIVE  APPOINTMENTS— THE  OSTEND  MANIFESTO — MR.  BUCHANAN 
AT  LONDON— THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  DEBATE — SPICY  WORDS  BE- 
TWEEN BRECKINRIDGE  AND  CUTTING— DIPLOMATIC  CARD-PLAYING 

ASSISTANT   SECRETARY  THOMAS — THE  AMOSKEAG  VETERANS. 

PRESIDENT  PIERCE,  seconded  by  Secretary 
Marcy,  made  his  foreign  appointments  with 
great  care.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  sent  as  Minis- 
ter to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  a  position  for  which  he 
was  well  qualified,  and  John  Y.  Mason,  of  Virginia, 
was  accredited  to  France.  The  support  given  to  the 
Democratic  party  by  the  adopted  citizens  of  the  Re- 
public was  acknowledged  by  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Soule,  a  Frenchman,  who  had  been  expelled  from  his 
native  land  as  a  revolutionist,  as  Minister  to  Spain  ; 
Robert  Dale  Owen,  an  Englishman,  noted  for  his  agra- 
rian opinions,  as  Minister  to  Naples,  and  Auguste 
Belmont,  Austrian  born,  Minister  to  the  Netherlands. 
The  civil  appointments,  of  every  official  grade,  large 
in  their  number  and  extended  in  their  influence  upon 
various  localities  and  interests,  were  made  with  distin- 
guished ability  and  sagacity,  and  were  received  with 
general  and  widespread  satisfaction.  The  President's 
thorough  knowledge  of  men,  his  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  relations  of  sections  heretofore  temporarily 
separated  from  the  great  mass  of  the  Democracy,  and 
his  quick  perception  of  the  ability  and  character  essen- 

435 


436 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


tial  to  the  faithful  performance  of  duty  were  active 
throughout,  and  he  kept  constantly  in  sight  his  avowed 
determination  to  unite  the  Democratic  party  upon  the 
principles  by  which  he  won  his  election.  Where  so 
many  distinguished  names  were  presented  for  his  con- 
sideration, and  where  disappointment  was  the  inevit- 
able fate  of  large  numbers,  a  degree  of  complaint  was 
unavoidable.  But  no  sooner  was  the  fund  of  Execu- 
tive patronage  well- 
nigh  exhausted  than 
might  be  heard  "  cur- 
ses, not  loud  butdeep." 
Presently,  as  the  num- 
ber of  disappointed 
place-hunters  increas- 
ed, the  tide  of  indig- 
nation began  to  swell, 
and  the  chorus  of  dis- 
content grew  louder 
and  louder,  until  the 
whole  land  was  filled 
with  the  clamors  of 
a  multitudinous  army 
of  martyrs.  For  the 
first  three  months  af- 
ter the  inauguration  the  Democratic  party  was  a  model 
of  decorum,  harmony,  and  contentment.  All  was  delight 
and  enthusiasm.  Frank  Pierce  was  the  man  of  the 
time ;  his  Cabinet  was  an  aggregation  of  the  wisdom  of 
the  country ;  his  policy  the  very  perfection  of  states- 
manship. Even  the  Whigs  did  not  utter  one  word  of 
discontent.  Frank  Pierce  was  still  President,  his  Cabi- 
net unchanged,  his  policy  the  same,  but  all  else,  how 
changed !  But  it  was  no  fault  of  his.  He  had  but  fifty 


OFFICE  SEEKERS. 


Growing  Dissatisfactions.  437 

thousand  offices  to  dispense,  which,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  could  go  but  a  short  way  to  appease  the  hunger 
of  two  hundred  thousand  applicants.  For  every  ap- 
pointment there  were  two  disappointments,  for  every 
friend  secured  he  made  two  enemies.  A  state  of  uni- 
versal satisfaction  was  succeeded  by  a  state  of  violent 
discontent,  and  the  Administration,  without  any  fault 
•of  its  own,  encountered  the  opposition  of  those  who 
but  a  few  weeks  previously  were  loudest  in  its  praise. 

In  order  to  re-enlist  public  favor  and  to  reunite  the 
Democratic  party,  Messrs.  Buchanan,  Mason,  and 
-Soule,  United  States  Ministers  respectively  to  England, 
France,  and  Spain,  were  ordered  by  the  President, 
through  Mr.  Marcy,  to  meet  at  Ostend.  There,  after 
mature  deliberations,  and  in  obedience  to  instructions 
from  Washington,  they  prepared,  signed,  and  issued  a 
brief  manifesto,  declaring  that  the  United  States  ought 
to  purchase  Cuba  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 
Political,  commercial,  and  geographical  reasons  there- 
for were  given,  and  it  was  asserted  in  conclusion  that 
41  the  Union  can  never  enjoy  repose,  nor  possess  re- 
liable security,  so  long  as  Cuba  is  not  embraced  within 
its  boundaries."  This  was  carrying  out  the  views  of 
Mr.  Buchanan,  who,  when  Secretary  of  State,  in  June, 
1848,  had,  under  the  instructions  of  President  Polk, 
•offered  Spain  one  hundred  million  of  dollars  for  the 
island. 

Mr.  Buchanan  had  accepted  the  mission  to  England, 
that  he  might  from  a  distance  pull  every  available 
wire  to  secure  the  nomination  in  1856,  coyly  denying 
all  the  time  that  he  wanted  to  be  President.  In  a 
heretofore  unpublished  letter  of  his,  dated  September 
5th,  1853,  which  is  in  my  collection  of  autographs,  he 
says :  "  You  propounded  a  question  to  me  before  I 


438  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

left  the  United  States  which  I  have  not  answered.  I 
shall  now  give  it  an  answer  in  perfect  sincerity,  with- 
out the  slightest  mental  reservation.  I  have  neither 
the  desire  nor  the  intention  again  to  become  a  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency.  On  the  contrary,  this  mission 
is  tolerable  to  me  alone  because  it  will  enable  me 
gracefully  and  gradually  to  retire  from  an  active  par- 
ticipation in  party  politics.  Should  it  please  Provi- 
dence to  prolong  my  days  and  restore  me  to  my  native 
land,  I  hope  to  pass  the  remnant  of  my  life  at  Wheat- 
land,  in  comparative  peace  and  tranquillity.  This  will 
be  most  suitable  both  to  my  age  (now  past  sixty-two) 
and  my  inclinations.  But  whilst  these  are  the  genu- 
ine sentiments  of  my  heart,  I  do  not  think  I  ought  to 
say  that  in  no  imaginable  state  of  circumstances  would 
I  consent  to  be  nominated  as  a  candidate." 

Mr.  Buchanan. was  greatly  exercised  over  the  court 
costume  which  he  was  to  wear,  and  finally  compromised 
by  adopting  a  black  evening  dress  suit,  with  the 
addition  of  a  small  sword,  which  distinguished  him 
from  the  servants  at  the  royal  palace.  He  had  always 
been  jealous  of  Governor  Marcy,  then  Secretary  of 
State,  and  instead  of  addressing  his  despatches  to  the 
Department  of  State,  as  is  customary  for  foreign  Min- 
isters, he  used  to  send  them  directly  to  the  President. 
It  is  said  that  General  Pierce  rather  enjoyed  seeing  his 
chief  Cabinet  officer  thus  snubbed,  and  that  he  used  to 
aggravate  the  slight  by  frequently  sending  answers 
to  Mr.  Buchanan's  communications  himself. 

Senator  Judah  Peter  Benjamin  was  a  dapper  little 
gentleman,  with  a  small  waist,  who  was  always  fault- 
lessly dressed,  and  who  was  one  of  the  hardest  working 
members  of  the  Senate.  Born  a  British  subject  on  one 
of  the  West  India  Islands,  he  became  a  citizen  of  the 


A  Senator  Silenced.  439 

United  States  by  domicile  very  early  in  life.  His  boy- 
hood was  spent  in  a  small  fruit-shop  kept  by  his  father 
at  Charleston,  but  wealthy  Hebrews  aided  him  in  ob- 
taining an  education,  and  his  indomitable  will  enabled 
him  in  due  time  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  the  law 
at  New  Orleans.  There,  where  nearly  all  legal  pro- 
ceedings were  then  duplicated  in  French  and  Knglish, 
his  perfect  familiarity  with  both  languages,  with  his 
ability  and  his  eloquence,  soon  enabled  him  to  amass  a 
fortune.  He  married  a  Gentile,  but  he  was  always 
identified  with  the  Hebrew  faith.  One  day  when  a 
Senator  of  German  extraction  taunted  him  with  being 
a  Jew,  he  said,  in  his  silvery  tones :  "  The  gentleman 
will  please  remember  that  when  his  half-civilized  ances- 
tors were  hunting  the  wild  boar  in  the  forests  of  Silesia, 
mine  were  the  princes  of  the  earth."  The  Senate  was 
electrified,  and  the  carping  Senator  was  quite  effectually 
silenced. 

The  proposition  to  repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise 
of  1820,  and  to  admit  Kansas  and  Nebraska  as  States, 
with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  citizens  might  respect- 
ively elect,  gave  rise  to  exciting  debates.  The  North 
was  antagonistic  to  the  South,  and  the  champions  of 
freedom  looked  defiantly  at  the  defenders  of  slavery. 
One  of  the  most  exciting  scenes  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives was  between  Mr.  John  C.  Breckinridge,  of 
Kentucky,  and  Mr.  Francis  B.  Cutting,  a  New  York 
lawyer,  who  had  defeated  Mr.  James  Brooks,  who  then 
was  editor  of  the  Express. 

Mr.  Cutting  was  advocating  the  passage  of  the  Sen- 
ate bill,  and  complaining  that  the  friends  of  the  Ad- 
ministration not  only  wanted  to  consign  it  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Whole — that  tomb  of  the  Capulets — but 
they  had  encouraged  attacks  in  their  organs  upon  him 


44O  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

and  those  who  stood  with  him.  Mr.  Breckinridge  inter- 
rupted him  while  he  was  speaking,  to  ask  if  a  remark 
made  was  personal  to  himself,  but  Mr.  Cutting  said 
that  it  was  not.  Mr.  Breckinridge,  interrupting  Mr. 
Cutting  a  second  time,  said  that  while  he  did  not 
want  to  charge  the  gentleman  from  New  York  with 
having  intentionally  played  the  part  of  an  assassin, 
he  had  said,  and  he  could  not  now  take  it  back,  that  the 
act,  to  all  intents,  was  like  throwing  one  arm  around  it 
in  friendship,  and  stabbing  it  with  the  other — to  kill 
the  bill.  As  to  a  statement  by  the  gentleman  that  in 
the  hour  of  his  greatest  need  the  "  Hards  "  of  New 
York  had  come  to  his  assistance,  he  could  not  under- 
stand it,  and  asked  for  an  explanation. 

"  I  will  give  it,"  replied  Mr.  Cutting.  "  When,  dur- 
ing the  last  Congressional  canvass  in  Kentucky,  it  was 
intimated  that  the  friends  of  the  honorable  Representa- 
tive from  the  Lexington  district  needed  assistance  to 
accomplish  his  election,  my  friends  in  New  York  made 
up  a  subscription  of  some  fifteen  hundred  dollars  and 
transmitted  it  to  Kentucky,  to  be  employed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  gentleman,  who  is  now  the  peer  of 
Presidents  and  Cabinets." 

"  Yes,  sir  !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Breckinridge,  springing 
to  his  feet,  a  and  not  only  the  peer  of  Presidents  and 
Cabinets,  but  the  peer  of  the  gentleman  from  New 
York,  fully  and  in  every  respect." 

A  round  of  applause  followed  this  assertion,  and  ere 
it  had  subsided  the  indomitable  Mike  Walsh  availed 
Tiimself  of  the  opportunity  to  give  his  colleague  a  rap. 
•"  When  [he  said]  we  came  here  we  protested  against 
the  Administration  interfering  in  the  local  affairs  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  now  my  colleague  states 
that  a  portion  of  his  constituents  have  been  guilty  of 


The  Combat  Deepens.  441 

the  same  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  people  of 
Kentucky."  "  Is  that  all,"  said  Mr.  Cutting,  in  a 
sneering  tone,  "  that  the  gentleman  from  New  York 
rose  for  ?"  "  That's  all,"  replied  Mr.  Walsh,  "  but  I 
will  be  on  hand  by  and  by,  though." 

Mr.  Breckinridge,  his  eyes  flashing  fire,  remarked 
in  measured  tones  that  the  gentleman  from  New  York 
should  have  known  the  truth  of  what  he  uttered  before 
he  pronounced  it  on  this  floor.  He  (Mr.  B.)  was  not 
aware  that  any  intimations  were  sent  from  Kentucky 
that  funds  were  needed  to  aid  in  his  election,  nor  was 
he  aware  that  they  were  received.  He  did  not  under- 
take to  say  what  the  fact  might  be  in  regard  to  what 
the  gentleman  had  said,  but  he  had  no  information 
whatever  of  that  fact.  He  (Mr.  B.)  came  to  Congress 
not  by  the  aid  of  money,  but  against  the  use  of  money. 
The  gentleman  could  not  escape  by  any  subtlety  or  by 
any  ingenuity  a  thorough  and  complete  exposure  of 
any  ingenious  device  to  which  he  might  resort  for  the 
purpose  of  putting  gentlemen  in  a  false  position,  and 
the  sooner  he  stopped  that  game  the  better. 

Mr.  Cutting,  who  was  also  very  much  excited,  made 
an  angry  reply,  in  which  he  stated  "  that  he  had  given 
the  gentleman  an  opportunity  of  indulging  in  one  of 
the  most  violent,  inflammatory,  and  personal  assaults 
that  had  ever  been  known  upon  this  floor ;  and  he  would 
ask  how  could  the  gentleman  disclaim  any  attack 
upon  him.  The  whole  tenor  and  scope  of  the  speech 
of  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  was  an  attack  upon 
his  motives  in  moving  to  commit  the  bill.  It  was 
in  vain  for  the  gentleman  to  attempt  to  escape  by 
disclaiming  it ;  the  fact  was  before  the  Committee. 
But  he  would  say  to  the  gentleman  that  he  scorned  his 
imputation.  How  dare  the  gentleman  undertake  to 


442  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

assert  that  lie  had  professed  friendship  for  the  measure 
with  a  view  to  kill  it,  to  assassinate  it  by  sending  it  to 
the  bottom  of  the  calendar  ?  And  then,  when  he  said 
that  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  had  under  its  control 
the  House  bill  upon  this  identical  subject,  which  the 
Committee  intended  to  take  up,  discuss,  amend,  and 
report  to  the  House,  the  gentleman  skulked  behind  the 
Senate  bill,  which  had  been  sent  to  the  foot  of  the 
calendar!" 

"Skulked!"  hissed  Mr.  Breckinridge.  "I  ask  the 
gentleman  to  withdraw  that  word !" 

"  I  withdraw  nothing !"  replied  Mr.  Cutting.  "  I  have 
uttered  what  I  have  said  in  answer  to  one  of  the  most 
violent  and  most  personal  attacks  that  has  ever  been 
witnessed  upon  this  floor." 

"  Then,"  said  Mr.  Breckinridge,  "  when  the  gentle- 
man says  I  skulked,  he  says  what  is  false !"  The 
Southern  members  began  to  gather  around  the  excited 
Kentuckian,  and  the  Speaker,  pounding  with  his  gavel> 
pronounced  the  offensive  remark  out  of  order. 

"  Mr.  Chairman,"  quietly  remarked  Mr.  Cutting,  "  I 
do  not  intend  upon  this  floor  to  answer  the  remark 
which  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  has  thought 
proper  to  employ.  It  belongs  to  a  different  region. 
It  is  not  here  that  I  will  desecrate  my  lips  with  under- 
taking  to  retort  in  that  manner." 

This  settled  the  question,  and  a  duel  appeared  to  be 
inevitable.  The  usual  correspondence  followed,  but 
President  Pierce  and  other  potent  friends  of  the  would- 
be  belligerents  interfered,  and  the  difficulty  was  ami- 
cably adjusted,  under  "  the  code  of  honor,"  without 
recourse  to  weapons. 

Governor  Marcy,  President  Pierce's  Secretary  of 
State,  was  a  great  card-player,  and  Mr.  Labouchere 


Whist  as  a  Tonic.  443 

tells  a  good  story  which  happened  when  he  was  Secre- 
tary of  the  British  Legation  at  Washington.  "  I 
went,"  said  he,  "  with  the  British  Minister,  to  a  pleas- 
ant watering-place  in  Virginia,  where  we  were  to  meet 
Mr.  Marcy,  the  then  United  States  Secretary  of  State, 
and  a  reciprocity  treaty  between  Canada  and  the  United 
States  was  to  be  quietly  discussed.  Mr.  Marcy,  the 
most  genial  of  men,  was  as  cross  as  a  bear.  He  would 
agree  to  nothing.  '  What  on  earth  is  the  matter  with 
your  chief?'  I  said  to  a  secretary  who  accompanied 
him.  '  He  does  not  have  his  rubber  of  whist,'  an- 
swered the  secretary.  After  this  every  night  the  Min- 
•ister  and  I  played  at  whist  with  Mr.  Marcy  and  his 
secretary,  and  every  night  we  lost.  The  stakes  were 
very  trifling,  but  Mr.  Marcy  felt  flattered  by  beating 
the  Britishers  at  what  he  called  their  own  game.  His 
good  humor  returned,  and  every  morning  when  the 
details  of  the  treaty  were  being  discussed  we  had 
our  revenge,  and  scored  a  few  points  for  Canada."  A 
true  account  of  the  money  designedly  lost  at  Washington 
by  diplomats,  heads  of  departments,  and  Congressmen 
would  give  a  deep  insight  into  the  secret  history  of 
legislation.  What  Representative  could  vote  against 
the  claim  of  a  man  whose  money  he  had  been  winning, 
in  small  sums,  it  is  true,  all  winter  ? 

General  John  A.  Thomas,  of  New  York,  who  was 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State  during  a  part  of  President 
Pierce's  Administration,  was  a  fine,  soldierly  looking 
man,  very  gentlemanly  in  his  deportment.  He  was  a 
native  of  Tennessee,  and  was  for  several  years  an 
officer  in  the  United  States  Army,  commanding  at  one 
time  the  corps  of  cadets.  He  married  a  Miss  Ronalds, 
who  belonged  to  an  old  New  York  family,  and  he  took 
her  with  him  when  he  went  abroad  as  Solicitor  to  the 


444 


Perlefs  Reminiscences. 


Board  of  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  President  to 
adjust  the  claims  of  American  citizens  upon  the 
British  Government.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  the  Ameri- 
can Minister  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  and  Mr.  Sickles 
Secretary  of  Legation.  Mrs.  Thomas  having  ex- 
pressed a  wish  to  be  presented  at  court,  Mr.  Buchanan 
assented,  and,  when  the  day  for  presentation  arrived, 
requested  Mrs.  Thomas  to  place  herself  under  the 

charge  of  Mrs.  Sickles, 
who  would  accompany 
her  to  the  palace  of  St. 
James.  This  arrange- 
ment Mrs.  Thomas  de- 
cidedly declined,  and 
by  so  doing  gave  so 
much  offense  to  Mr. 
Buchanan  that  she  was 
never  presented  at 
court  at  all.  Nor  did 
the  matter  end  here. 
When  Mr.  Buchanan 
came  to  the  Presiden- 
cy he  found  General 
Thomas  filling  the  of- 
fice of  Assistant  Sec- 
retary of  State.  From  this  office  he  immediately 
ejected  him,  for  the  old  grudge  he  bore  Mrs.  Thomas 
for  refusing  to  go  to  court  with  Mrs.  Sickles,  as 
General  Thomas  declared  to  his  friends.  Mr.  Buch- 
anan was  always  very  fond  of  Mr.  Sickles  and  his 
wife,  and  it  was  said  that  he  narrowly  escaped  being 
in  the  Sickles'  house  when  Barton  Key  was  shot  down 
after  coming  from  it. 

The    Amoskeag     Veterans,    of    Manchester,    New 


MRS.  DANIEL  SICKLES. 


446  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

Hampshire,  a  volunteer  corps  which  wore  the  Conti- 
nental uniform  and  marched  to  the  music  of  drums 
and  fifes,  came  to  Washington  to  pay  their  respects  to 
the  President,  who  received  them  with  lavish  hospital- 
ity. They  visited  Mount  Vernon  under  escort  of  a 
detachment  of  volunteer  officers,  and  were  escorted  by 
the  venerable  G.  W.  P.  Custis  around  the  old  home 
of  his  illustrious  relative.  At  a  ball  given  in  the 
evening  the  "  old  man  eloquent "  wore  the  epaulettes 
originally  fastened  on  his  shoulders  by  him  who  was 
"  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of 
his  countrymen."  The  sword  given  him  by  General 
Washington  t  .Mr.  Custis  had  presented  to  his  son-in- 
law,  Captain  Robert  B.  Lee,  of  the  Engineer  Corps, 
during  the  Mexican  campaign. 


JOHN  TYLER  was  born  in  Charles  City  County,  Virginia  March  2gth,  1790;  was  a  Representative 


visional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States,  which  assembled  at  Richmond  in  July,  1861 ;  was 
elected  a  Representative  from  Virginia  in  the  first  Confederate  Congress,  but  died  at  Richmond, 
Virginia,  before  taking  his  seat,  January  i?th,  1862. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

CRYSTALLIZATION  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

FORMATION  OP  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY — THE  ELECTION  OP  SPEAKER — 
MR.  BANKS  TRIUMPHANT — DIVISION  OP  THE  SPOILS — A  PROTRACTED 
SESSION— ASSAULT  ON  HORACE  GREELEY— TERRITORIAL  DELEGATES 
— THE  SENATE— THE  VIRGINIA  SENATORS— "  HALE,"  OF  NEW  HAMP- 
SHIRE. 

THE  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the 
enactment  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  L/aw  re- 
opened the  flood-gates  of  sectional  contro- 
versy. The  Native  American  organisation  was  used 
at  the  North  by  the  leading  Abolitionists  for  the  dis- 
integration of  the  Whigs,  and  they  founded  a  new 
political  party,  with  freedom  inscribed  upon  its  banners. . 
The  Free-Soil  Democrats  who  had  rebelled  against 
Southern  rule,  with  the  Liberty  Whigs,  and  those  who 
were  more  openly  arrayed  against  slavery,  united,  and 
were  victorious  at  the  Congressional  elections  in  the 
Northern  States  in  the  autumn  of  1854.  "  The  moral 
idea  became  a  practical  force,"  and  the  "  Irrepressible 
Conflict  "  was  commenced.  "  As  Republicans,"  said 
Charles  Sumner,  "  we  go  forth  to  encounter  the  oli- 
garchs of  slavery." 

The  great  contest  was  opened  by  a  struggle  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  over  the  Speakership.  Na- 
thaniel Prentiss  Banks,  a  Democrat,  who  had  joined 
the  Know-Nothings,  was  the  Northern  candidate, 
although  Horace  Greeley,  with  Thurlow  Weed  and 

447 


44-S  Perlefs   Reminiscences. 

William  Schouler  as  his  aides-de-camp,  endeavored  to 
elect  Lewis  D.  Campbell,  an  Ohio  American.  The 
Southern  Know-Nothings  voted  at  one  time  for  Henry 
M.  Fuller,  of  Pennsylvania,  but  they  dropped  him 
like  a  hot  potato  when  they  learned  that  he  had  ac- 
cepted a  place  on  the  Republican  Committee  of  his 
State.  William  Aiken,  a  large  slaveholder  in  South 
Carolina,  was  the  favorite  Southern  candidate,  although 
the  vote  of  the  solid  South  was  successively  given  to 
several  others.  Meanwhile,  as  day  after  day  passed, 
the  President's  message  was  withheld,  and  all  legisla- 
tion was  at  a  dead-lock.  The  Sergeant-at-Arms,  Colo- 
nel Glossbrenner,  an  ex-member  of  the  House,  ob- 
tained a  loan  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  from  a  bank 
in  Pennsylvania,  which  enabled  him  to  make  advances 
to  impecunious^  members  of  both  parties,  and  thus  to 
insure  his  re-election. 

Early  in  January  an  attempt  was  made  to  "  sit  it 
out,"  and  all  night  the  excited  House  seethed  like  a 
boiling  caldron ;  verdant  novices  were  laughed  down 
as  they  endeavored  to  make  some  telling  point,  while 
sly  old  stagers  lay  in  ambush  to  spring  out  armed  with 
"  points  of  order."  Hmasculate  conservatives  were 
snubbed  by  followers  of  new  prophets ;  belligerent 
Southrons  glared  fiercely  at  phlegmatic  Yankees ;  one 
or  two  intoxicated  Solons  gabbled  sillily  upon  every 
question,  and  sober  clergymen  gaped,  as  if  sleepy  and 
disgusted  with  political  life.  Banks,  unequaled  in  his 
deportment,  was  as  cool  as  a  summer  cucumber ;  Aiken, 
his  principal  opponent,  was  courteous  and  gentleman- 
like to  all;  Giddings  wore  a  broad-brimmed  hat  to 
shield  his  eyes  from  the  rays  of  the  gas  chandelier ; 
Stephens,  of  Georgia,  piped  forth  his  shrill  response, 
and  Senator  Wilson  went  busily  about  "  whipping-in." 


An  All-night  Session. 


449 


Soon  after  midnight  the  South  Americans  began  to 
relate  their  individual  experience  in  true  camp-meeting 
style,  the  old-line  Democrats  were  rampant,  the  few 
Whigs  were  jubilant,  and  the  bone  of  Catholicism  was 
pretty  well  picked  by  those  who  had  been  peeping 
at  politics  through  dark-lanterns,  and  who  were  "  know- 
nothings  "  about  what  they  had  done.  In  short,  every 


COMPLETELY   EATEN   OUT. 


imaginable  topic  of  discussion,  in  order  or  out  of  order, 
was  lugged  in  to  kill  time. 

Meanwhile  the  supply  of  ham  at  the  eating-counter 
below-stairs  was  exhausted,  the  oysters  were  soon  after 
minus,  and  those  who  had  brought  no  lunch  had  to 
mumble  ginger-cakes.  It  was  remarked  by  good 
judges  that  as  the  morning  advanced  the  coffee  grew 
weaker,  suggesting  a  possibility  that  the  caterer  could 
not  distinguish  between  cocoa  and  cold  water,  and  only 
29 


450  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

replenished  his  boiler  with  the  latter.  There  were 
more  questions  of  order,  more  backing  people  up  to 
vote,  and  an  increase  of  confusion.  Men  declared 
that  they  would  "  stick,"  while  they  entreated  others 
to  shift,  and  as  daylight  streamed  in  upon  the  scene, 
the  political  gamesters  had  haggard  and  careworn 
countenances.  The  result  of  the  night's  work  was  no 
choice. 

At  last,  after  nine  long,  tedious  weeks,  the  agony 
was  over,  and  Massachusetts  furnished  the  Thirty- 
fourth  Congress  with  its  Speaker.  Although  what 
was  termed  "  Americanism "  played  an  important 
though  concealed  part  in  the  struggle,  the  real  battle 
was  between  the  North  and  the  South — the  stake  was 
the  extension  of  slavery.  When  the  decisive  vote  was 
reached  the  galleries  were  packed  with  ladies,  who, 
like  the  gentle  dames  in  the  era  of  chivalry,  sat  inter- 
ested lookers-on  as  the  combating  parties  entered  the 
arena.  On  the  one  side  was  Mr.  Aiken,  a  Representa- 
tive from  the  chivalric,  headstrong  State  of  South 
Carolina,  the  son  of  an  Irishman,  the  inheritor  of  an 
immense  wealth,  and  the  owner  of  eleven  hundred 
slaves.  Opposed  to  him  was  Mr.  Banks,  of  Massachu- 
setts, a  State  which  was  the  very  antipodes  of  South 
Carolina  in  politics,  who,  by  his  own  exertions,  un- 
aided by  a  lineage  or  wealth  or  anything  save  his  own 
indomitable  will,  had  conquered  a  position  among  an 
eminently  conservative  people.  Voting  was  com- 
menced, and  each  minute  seemed  an  age,  as  some 
members  had  to  explain  their  votes,  but  at  length  the 
tellers  began  to  "  foot  up."  It  had  been  agreed  that 
the  result  should  be  announced  by  the  teller  belonging 
to  the  party  of  the  successful  candidate,  and  when  the 
sheet  was  handed  to  Mr.  Benson,  of  Maine,  the  "be- 


Banks  Elected  Speaker. 


451 


ginning  of  the  end  "  was  known, 
he  announced  that  Nathaniel 
P.  Banks,  Jr.,  had  received  one 
hundred  and  three  votes ;  Wil- 
liam Aiken,  one  hundred  ;  H. 
M.  Fuller,  six ;  L.  D.  Camp- 
bell, four,  and  Daniel  Wells, 
Jr.,  of  Wisconsin,  one.  The 
election  was  what  a  French- 
man would  call  an  "  accom- 
plished fact,"  and  hearty 

cheers  were  heard  on  all  sides,    j:,- 

ii»- 

Magnanimity  is  not  a  prom- 
inent ingredient  in  political 
character,  and  some  factious 
objections  were  made,  but  Mr. 
Aiken  soon  put  a  stop  to 
them.  Rising  with  that  dig- 
nity peculiar  to  wealthy  and 
portly  gentlemen  of  ripe 
years,  he  requested  permis- 
sion to  conduct  the  Speaker- 
elect  to  the  chair.  This  dis- 
armed opposition,  and  after 
some  formalities,  he  was  au- 
thorized, by  a  large  majority 
resolve,  to  perform  the  duty, 
accompanied  by  Messrs.  Ful- 
ler and  Campbell.  Cheer  after 
cheer,  with  waving  of  hats 
and  ladies'  handkerchiefs,  an- 
nounced that  on  the  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-third  vote  the 
Speaker's  chair  was  occupied. 


Radiant  with  joy. 


THE  SPEAKER'S   MACE. 


The  mace,  emblem  of  the 


452 


Perley's  Reminiscences. 


Speaker's  authority,  was  brought  from  its  resting-place 
and  elevated  at  his  side.     The  House  was  organized. 

The  address  of  Mr.  Banks,  free  from,  all  cant,  and 
delicately   alluding   to   those   American   principles    to 


SPEAKER  NATHANIEL  P.    BANKS. 


which  he  owed  his  office,  was  happily  conceived  and  ad- 
mirably delivered.  Then  old  Father  Giddings,  stand- 
ing  beneath  the  large  chandelier,  with  his  silvery  locks 
flowing  picturesquely  around  his  head,  held  up  his 


Dividing  the  Spoils.  453 

hand  and  administered  the  oath  of  office.  The  authori- 
tative gavel  was  handed  up  by  Colonel  Forney,  who 
was  thanked  by  a  resolution  complimenting  him  for 
the  ability  with  which  he  had  presided  during  the  pro- 
tracted contest,  and  then  the  House  adjourned. 

It  then  became  necessary  to  divide  the  spoils,  and 
after  an  exciting  contest,  Cornelius  Wendell,  a  Demo- 
cratic nominee,  was  elected  Printer  to  the  House  by 
Republican  votes,  in  consideration  of  certain  percent- 
ages of  his  profits  paid  to  designated  parties.  The 
House  binding  was  given  to  Mr.  Williams,  editor  of  the 
Toledo  Blade,  a  lawyer  by  profession,  who  had  never 
bound  a  book  in  his  life.  Mr.  Robert  Farnham  paid 
him  a  considerable  sum  for  his  contract,  and  the  work 
was  done  by  Mr.  Tretler,  a  practical  bookbinder.  Mr. 
Simon  Hanscomb,  who  had  been  efficient  in  bringing 
about  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Banks,  received  a  twelve- 
hundred  dollar  sinecure  clerkship,  and  others  who  had 
aided  in  bringing  about  the  result  were  cared  for. 
One  Massachusetts  Representative  had  his  young  son 
appointed  a  page  by  the  doorkeeper,  but  when  Speaker 
Banks  learned  of  it,  he  ordered  the  appointment  to  be 
canceled.  Luckily  for  the  lad,  the  father  was  enabled 
to  secure  for  him  an  appointment  as  a  cadet  at  West 
Point,  and  he  became  a  gallant  officer. 

The  first  session  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress  was 
protracted  until  the  i8th  of  August,  1856,  and  it  was 
distinguished  by  acrimonious  debate.  The  most  re- 
markable speaker  was  Mr.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  of 
whom  it  might  be  said,  as  of  St.  Paul,  "  his  bodily 
presence  is  weak,"  while  his  thin,  shrill  voice,  issuing 
as  it  were  by  jerks  from  his  narrow  chest,  recalled  John 
Randolph.  Contrasting  widely  in  size  was  the  burly 
Humphrey  Marshall,  of  Kentucky,  who  had  won 


454 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


laurels  in  the  Mexican  War,  as  had  the  gallant  Gen- 
eral Qnitman,  a  Representative  from  Mississippi. 
Henry  Winter  Davis,  of  Baltimore,  and  Anson  Burlin- 
game,  of  Boston,  were  the  most  eloquent  and  enthusi- 
astic of  those  who  had  been  washed  into  Congress  by 
the  Know-Nothing  wave,  and  with  them  had  come 
some  ignorant  and  bigoted  fellows.  Equally  promi- 
nent, but  better  qualified,  on  the  other  side  was  John 


THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW  IN  OPERATION. 

Kelly,  who  had  defeated  the  candidates  brought  out  by 
"  Sam  "  and  "  Sambo  "  to  oppose  him.  The  venerable 
Joshua  R.  Giddings,  of  Ohio,  who  led  the  abolition 
forces,  was  as  austerely  bitter  as  Cato  was  in  ancient 
Utica  when  he  denounced  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
under  the  operations  of  which  many  runaway  slaves 
were  captured  at  the  North  and  returned  to  their 
Southern  masters. 


Greeley  Assaulted.  455 

The  eloquence  of  Mr.  Clingman,  who  represented 
North  Carolina,  was  alternately  enlivened  by  epigram- 
matic wit  or  envenomed  by  scorching  reply.  Mr.  Jus- 
tin S.  Morrill,  of  Vermont,  was  commencing  a  long  and 
useful  Congressional  career.  Mr.  Schuyler  Colfax,  an 
editor-politician,  represented  an  Indiana  district.  The 
veteran  Mr.  Charles  J.  Faulkner,  with  his  choleric  son- 
in-law,  Mr.  Thomas  S.  Bocock,  and  the  erratic  and 
chivalrous  Judge  Caskie,  represented  Virginia  districts. 
Mr.  Blihu  B.  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  sat  near  his 
brother,  Israel  D.  Washburne,  of  Maine.  Mr.  Lyman 
Trumbull,  of  Illinois,  was  then  an  ardent  Republican, 
and  so  was  Mr.  Francis  E.  Spinner,  of  New  York,  whose 
wonderful  autograph  afterward  graced  public  securities. 

Mr.  Albert  Rust,  one  of  the  Representatives  from 
Arkansas,  won  some  notoriety  by  attacking  Horace 
Greeley  at  his  hotel.  The  next  day  he  was  brought 
before  Justice  Morsell,  and  gave  bonds  to  appear  at  the 
next  session  of  the  Criminal  Court.  He  appeared  to 
glory  in  what  he  had  done.  Mr.  Greeley  was  evidently 
somewhat  alarmed,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his 
sojourn  at  Washington  his  more  stalwart  friends  took 
care  that  he  should  not  be  unaccompanied  by  a 
defender  when  he  appeared  in  public. 

The  Territory  of  Utah  was  represented  in  the  House 
by  Mr.  John  N.  Burnhisel,  a  small,  dapper  gentleman, 
who  in  deportment  and  tone  of  voice  resembled  Robert 
J.  Walker.  It  was  very  rarely  that  he  participated  in 
debate,  and  his  forte  was  evidently  taciturnity.  In 
private  conversation  he  was  fluent  and  agreeable,  de- 
fending the  peculiar  domestic  institutions  of  his  people. 
The  delegate  from  Oregon  was  Mr.  Joseph  Lane,  who 
had  served  bravely  in  the  Mexican  War,  gone  to 
Oregon  as  its  first  Governor,  and  been  returned  as  its 


456  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

first  Territorial  Delegate.  He  was  a  keen-eyed,  trimly 
built  man,  of  limited  education,  but  the  possessor  of 
great  common  sense.  Henry  M.  Rice,  the  first  Dele- 
gate from  the  Territory  of  Minnesota,  had  been  for 
years  an  Indian  trader  in  connection  with  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company,  and  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  people  he  represented,  and  whose  interests  he 
faithfully  served.  New  Mexico,  then  a  terra  incognita, 
was  represented  by  Don  Jose  Manuel  Gallegos,  a 
native  of  the  Territory,  who  had  been  educated  in  the 
Catholic  schools  of  Mexico,  and  who  was  devoted  to 
the  Democratic  party.  He  had  as  a  rival  Don  Miguel 
A.  Otero,  also  a  native  of  New  Mexico,  who  had  been 
educated  at  St.  Louis,  and  whose  Democracy  was  of 
the  more  liberal  school.  He  successfully  contested  the 
seat  of  Mr.  Gallegos  in  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress, 
and  secured  his  re-election  in  the  two  ensuing  ones. 

The  Senate  was  behind  the  House  in  entering  into 
the  "  irrepressible  conflict."  The  death  of  Vice-Presi- 
dent King  having  left  the  chair  of  the  presiding  officer 
vacant,  it  was  filled  pro  tempore  by  Mr.  Jesse  D. 
Bright,  of  Indiana.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  presence, 
fair  abilities,  and  a  fluent  speaker,  thoroughly  devoted 
.to  the  Democratic  party  as  then  controlled  by  the 
South.  He  regarded  the  anti-slavery  movement  as  the 
offspring  of  a  wanton  desire  to  meddle  with  the  affairs 
of  other  people,  and  to  grasp  political  power,  or — to 
use  the  words  of  one  who  became  an  ardent  Republican 
— a:s  the  product  of  hypocritical  selfishness,  assuming 
the  mask  and  cant  of  philanthropy  merely  to  rob  the 
South  and  to  enrich  New  England.  The  rulings  of 
the  Chair,  while  it  was  occupied  by  Senator  Bright, 
were  all  in  favor  of  the  South  and  of  the  compromises 
which  had  been  entered  into.  The  Secretary  of  the 


Southern  Senators. 


457 


Senate,  its  Sergeant-at-Arnis,  its  door-keepers,  messen- 
gers, and  even  its  little  pages,  were  subservient  to  the 
South. 

Mr.  James  Murray  Mason,  a  type  of  the  old  patrician 
families  of  Virginia,  was  one  of  the  few  remaining 
polished  links  between  the  statesmen  of  those  days  and 
of  the  past.  His  first  ancestor  in  Virginia,  George 
Mason,  commanded  a  regiment  of  cavalry  in  the  Cava- 
lier army  of  Charles 
Stuart  (afterward 
Charles  II)  in  the  cam- 
paign against  the 
Roundhead  troops  of 
Oliver  Cromwell.  Af- 
ter the  defeat  of  the 
royal  forces  at  the  battle 
of  Worcester,  Colonel 
Mason  escaped  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  soon  after- 
ward established  a  plan- 
tation on  the  Potomac, 
where  his  lineal  de- 
scendants resided  gene- 
ration after  generation. 
The  future  Senator  was 
educated  at  Georgetown,  in  the  then  infant  days  of  the 
Federal  city,  and  the  society  of  such  statesmen  as  then 
sat  in  the  councils  of  the  republic  was  in  itself  an 
education.  He  possessed -a  stalwart  figure,  a  fine,  im- 
posing head  covered  with  long  gray  hair,  a  pleasing 
countenance,  and  a  keen  eye.  No  Senator  had  a 
greater  reverence  for  the  peculiar  institutions  of  the 
South,  or  a  more  thorough  contempt  for  the  Abolition- 
ists of  the  North.  His  colleague,  Mr.  Robert  M.  T. 


JAMES   MURRAY  MASON. 


458 


Perley's  Reminiscences. 


Hunter,  was  of  less  aristocratic  lineage,  but  had  re- 
ceived a  more  thorough  education.  He  had  served  in 
the  Twenty-sixth  Congress  as  Speaker  of  the  House, 
and  he  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  parliamentary 
law  and  usages.  He  had  also  paid  great  attention  to 
finance  and  to  the  tariff  questions.  Solidly  built,  with 
a  massive  head  and  a  determined  manner,  he  was  very 
impressive  in  debate,  and  his  speeches  on  financial 

questions  were  listened 
to  with  great  attention. 
John  P.  Hale  was  a 
prominent  figure  in 
the  Senate,  and  never 
failed  to  command  at- 
tention. The  keen 
shafts  of  the  South- 
erners, aimed  at  him, 
fell  harmlessly  at  his 
feet,  and  his  wonder- 
ful good  nature  dis- 
armed malicious  oppo- 
sition. Those  who  felt 
that  he  had  gone  far 
astray  in  his  political 
opinions  did  not  ac- 
cuse him  of  selfish  motives,  sordid  purposes,  or  de- 
graded intrigues.  His  was  the  "chasseur"  style  of 
oratory — now  skirmishing  on  the  outskirts  of  an  oppo- 
nent's position,  then  rallying  on  some  strange  point, 
pouring  in  a  rattling  fire,  standing  firm  against  a 
charge,  and  ever  displaying  a  perfect  independence  of 
action  and  a  disregard  of  partisan  drill. 

President  Pierce  felt  very  unkindly  toward  Mr.  Hale. 
At  an  evening  reception,  when  the  Senator  from  New 


JOHN  P.   HALE. 


An  Insult   in  High  Society.  459 

Hampshire  approached,  escorting  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ter, the  President  spoke  to  the  ladies,  but  deliberately 
turned  his  back  upon  Mr.  Hale.  This  action  by  one 
so  courteous  as  was  General  Pierce  created  much  com- 
ment, and  was  the  subject  of  earnest  discussion  in 
drawing-rooms  as  well  as  at  the  Capitol. 


LEWIS  CASS  was  born  at  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  October  pth,  178^;  crossed  the  Allegany 
Mountains  on  foot  when  seventeen  years  of  age  to  Ohio,  where  he  commenced  the  practice  of  law  ; 
was  colonel  of  the  Third  Ohio  Volunteers,  which  was  a  part  of  General  Hull's  army,  surrendered 
at  Detroit,  August  i6th,  1812;  was  Governor  of  Michigan  Territory,  1813-1831;  was  Secretary  of 
War  under  President  Jackson,  1831-1836;  was  Minister  to  France,  October  4th,  1836,  to  November 
i2th,  1842 ;  was  United  States  Senator  from  Michigan,  December  vst.  1845,  to  May  2gth,  1848 ;  was 
defeated  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for  President  in  the  fall  of  1848;  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy 
in  the  Senate,  occasioned  by  his  own  resignation,  December  3d,  1849,  to  March  3d,  1857;  was  Sec- 
retary of  State  under  President  Buchanan,  March  4th,  1857,  to  December  I7th,  1860,  when  he  re- 
signed ;  retired  to  Detroit,  Michigan,  where  he  died,  June  i/th,  1866. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

POLITICAL  STORM   AND   SOCIAL   SUNSHINE. 

SUMNER,  OP  MASSACHUSETTS— THE  ASSAULT  ON  SUMNER — TROUBLOUS 
TIMES — CONGRESSIONAL  COURTESIES — SENATORIAL  WIT — CONVEN- 
TION OF  OLD  SOLDIERS — SOCIAL  ROUTINE  AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE — 
SOCIETY  GATHERINGS. 

CHARLES  SUMNER  had  not  spoken  on  the 
slavery  question  immediately  on  taking  his 
seat  in  the  Senate,  and  some  of  his  abolition 
friends  in  Boston  had  began  to  fear  that  he,  too,  had 
been  enchanted  by  the  Circe  of  the  South.  Theodore 
Parker  said,  in  a  public  speech  :  "I  wish  he  had  spoken 
long  ago,  but  it  is  for  him  to  decide,  not  us.  '  A 
fool's  bolt  is  soon  shot,'  while  a  wise  man  often  reserves 
his  fire."  But  Senator  Seward,  who  had  been  taught 
by  experience  how  far  a  Northern  man  could  go  in  op- 
position to  the  slave-power,  advised  him  that  "  retorted 
scorn  "  would  be  impolitic  and  perhaps  unsafe. 

Mr.  Sumner,  however,  soon  began  to  occupy  the 
floor  of  the  Senate  Chamber  when  he  could  get  an  op- 
portunity. His  speeches  were  able  and  exhaustive  dis- 
quisitions, polished  and  repolished  before  their  delivery, 
and  arraigning  the  South  in  stately  and  measured  sen- 
tences which  contained  stinging  rebukes.  The  bold- 
ness of  his  language  soon  attracted  public  attention 
and  secured  his  recognition  as  the  chosen  champion  of 
Freedom.  One  afternoon,  while  he  was  speaking,  Sen- 
ator Douglas,  walking  up  and  down  behind  the  Presi- 
460 


Sumner1  s  Personal  Appearance.  461 

dent's  chair  in  the  old  Senate  Chamber  and  listening 
to  him,  remarked  to  a  friend  :  "  Do  you  hear  that  man  ? 
He  may  be  a  fool,  but  I  tell  you  that  man  has  pluck. 
I  wonder  whether  he  knows  himself  what  he  is  doing  ? 
I  am  not  sure  whether  I  should  have  the  courage  to  say 
those  things  to  the  men  who  are  scowling  around  him." 
Mr.  Sumner  was  at  that  time  strikingly  prepossess- 
ing in  his  appearance  : 

"  Not  that  his  dress  attracted  vulgar  eyes, 
With  Fashion's  gewgaws  flauntingly  display'd  ; 
He  had  the  bearing  of  the  gentleman  ; 
And  nobleness  of  mind  illumined  his  mien, 
Winning  at  once  attention  and  respect." 

He  was  over  six  feet  in  stature,  with  a  broad  chest  and 
graceful  manners.  His  features,  though  not  perhaps 
strictly  regular,  were  classical,  and  naturally  of  an  ani- 
mated cast ;  his  hazel  eyes  were  somewhat  inflamed  by 
night-work ;  he  wore  no  beard,  except  a  small  pair  of 
side-whiskers,  and  his  black  hair  lay  in  masses  over 
his  high  forehead.  I  do  not  remember  to  have  ever 
seen  two  finer-looking  men  in  Washington  than 
Charles  Sumner  and  Salmon  P.  Chase,  as  they  came 
together  to  a  dinner-party  at  the  British  Legation,  each 
wearing  a  blue  broadcloth  dress-coat  with  gilt  buttons, 
a  white  waistcoat,  and  black  trowsers. 

The  conservative  Senators  soon  treated  Mr.  Sumner 
as  a  fanatic  unfit  to  associate  with  them,  and  they  re- 
fused him  a  place  on  any  committee,  as  "  outside  of 
any  political  organization."  This  stimulated  him  in 
the  preparation  of  a  remarkable  arraignment  of  the 
slave-power,  which  he  called  the  "  crime  against 
Kansas."  It  was  confidentially  printed  before  its 
delivery  that  advance  copies  might  be  sent  to  distant 
cities,  and  nearly  every  one  permitted  to  read  it,  includ- 


462 


Perlefs  Reminiscences. 


ing  Mr.  William  H.  Seward,  advised  Mr.  Sumner 
to  tone  down  its  offensive  features.  But  he  refused. 
He  was  not,  as  his  friend  Carl  Schurz  afterward  re- 
marked, "  conscious  of  the  stinging  force  of  the  lan- 
guage he  frequently  employed,"  "  and  he  was  not  unfre- 
quently  surprised,  greatly  surprised,  when  others  found 
his  language  offensive."  He  delivered  the  speech  as  it 
had  been  written  and  printed,  occupying  two  days,  and 

he  provoked  the  South- 
ern Senators  and  their 
friends  beyond  mea- 
sure. 

Preston  S.  Brooks,  a 
tall,  fine-looking  Rep- 
resentative from  South 
Carolina,  who  had 
served  gallantly  in  the 
Mexican  War,  was  in- 
cited to  revenge  cer- 
tain phrases  used  by 
Mr.  Sumner,  which  he 
was  told  reflected  upon 
his  uncle,  Senator  But- 
ler. Entering  the  Sen- 
ate Chamber  one  da}'- 
after  the  adjournment,  he  went  up  to  Mr.  Sumner,  who 
sat  writing  at  his  desk,  with  his  head  down,  and  dealt 
him  several  severe  blows  on  the  back  of  his  head  with 
a  stout  gutta-percha  cane  as  he  would  have  cut  at  him 
right  and  left  with  a  dragoon's  broadsword. 

Mr.  Sumner's  long  legs  were  stretched  beneath  his 
desk,  so  that  he  was  pinioned  when  he  tried  to  rise, 
and  the  blood  from  the  wound  on  his  head  blinded  him. 
In  his  struggle  he  wrenched  his  desk  from  the  floor, 


PRESTON  S.  BROOKS. 


Sumner*s  Sufferings. 


463 


to  which  it  had  been  screwed,  but  before  he  could  gain 
his  feet  his  assailant  had  gratified  his  desire  to  punish 
him.  Several  persons  had  witnessed  this  murderous 
assault  without  interfering,  and  when  Mr.  Sumner, 
stunned  and  bleeding,  was  led  to  a  sofa  in  the  ante- 
room, Mr.  Brooks  was  congratulated  on  what  he  had 
done. 

For  two  years  Mr.  Sumner  was  a  great  sufferer,  but 
the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts, recognizing 
him  as  their  champion, 
kept  his  empty  chair 
in  the  Senate  ready  for 
him  to  occupy  again 
when  he  became  con- 
valescent. A  chival- 
rous sympathy  for  him 
as  he  endured  the 
cruel  treatment  pre- 
scribed by  modern 
science  contributed  to 
his  fame,  and  he  be- 
came the  leading 
champion  of  liberty  in 
the  impending  conflict 
for  freedom.  Mr.  Seward  regarded  the  situation  with  a 
complacent  optimism,  Mr.  Hale  good-naturedly  joked 
with  the  Southern  Senators,  and  Mr.  Chase  drifted  along 
with  the  current,  all  of  them  adorning  but  not  in  any 
way  shaping  the  tide  of  events.  With  Mr.  Sumner  it 
was  different,  for  he  possessed  that  root  of  statesmanship 
— the  power  of  forethought.  Although  incapacitated 
for  Senatorial  duties,  his  earnest  words,  like  the  blast 
of  a  trumpet,  echoed  through  the  North,  and  he  was 


ANSON  BURLINGAME. 


464  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

recognized  as  the  martyr-leader  of  the  Republican 
party.  The  injury  to  his  nervous  system  was  great, 
"but  the  effect  of  Brooks'  blows  upon  the  slave-holding 
system  was  still  more  injurious.  Before  Mr.  Sumner 
had  resumed  his  seat  both  Senator  Butler  and  Repre- 
sentative Brooks  had  passed  away. 

The  debate  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  a 
resolution  censuring  Mr.  Brooks  for  his  murderous 
attack  (followed  by  his  resignation  and  unanimous 
re-election)  was  marked  by  acrimonious  altercations, 
with  threats  of  personal  violence  by  the  excited  South- 
erners, who  found  themselves  on  the  defensive.  Henry 
Wilson  and  other  Northern  Congressmen  went  about 
armed  with  revolvers,  and  gave  notice  that  while  they 
would  not  fight  duels,  they  would  defend  themselves 
if  attacked.  Mr.  Anson  Burlingame,  who  had  come 
from  Michigan  to  complete  his  studies  at  Harvard 
College,  married  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  Boston 
merchant,  and  been  elected  to  Congress  by  the  Know- 
Nothings  and  Abolitionists,  accepted  a  challenge  from 
Mr.  Brooks.  He  selected  the  Clifton  House,  on  the 
Canadian  shore  of  Niagara  Falls,  as  the  place  of  meet- 
ing, which  the  friends  of  Mr.  Brooks  declared  was 
done  that  the  duel  could  not  take  place,  as  Mr.  Brooks 
could  not  pass  through  the  Northern  States,  where  he 
was  so  universally  hated.  Mr.  Lewis  D.  Campbell, 
who  was  Mr.  Burlingame's  second,  repelled  this  insinu- 
ation, and  was  confident  that  his  principal  "  meant 
business." 

During  the  administration  of  President  Pierce,  Con- 
gress created  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-General,  and 
General  Scott  received  the  appointment.  He  estab- 
lished his  head -quarters  at  Washington,  and  ap- 
peared on  several  occasions  in  full  uniform  riding  a 


Lieutenant- General  Scott. 


465 


spirited  charger.  Colonel  Jefferson  Davis,  then  Secre- 
tary of  War,  and  "Old  Chapultepec,"  as  Scott  was 
familiarly  called  by  army  officers,  did  not  get  along 
harmoniously,  and  the  President  invariably  sided  with 
liis  Secretary  of  War.  Mr.  Seward,  meanwhile,  busily 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  SCOTT. 


availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  alienate  General 
Scott  from  his  Southern  friends. 

While  the  Northern  and  Southern  politicians  "  bit 
their  thumbs "  at  each  other,  the  followers  and  the 
opponents  of  Senator  Douglas  in  the  Democratic 

30 


466  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

ranks  became  equally  hostile,  and  in  some  instances 
belligerent.  I  was  then  the  associate  editor  of  the 
Evening  Star,  a  lively  local  sheet  owned  and  edited  by 
Mr.  Douglas  Wallach.  Walking  along  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  one  afternoon,  I  saw  just  before  me  Mr. 
Wallach  engaged  in  an  excited  controversy  with  an 
elderly  gentleman,  who  I  afterward  learned  was  Mr. 
"  Extra  Billy "  Smith,  an  ex-Representative  in  Con- 
gress, who  had  grown  rich  by  the  extra  allowances 
made  to  him  as  a  mail  contractor.  Bach  was  calling 
the  other  hard  names  in  a  loud  tone  of  voice,  and  just 
as  I  reached  them  they  clinched,  wrestled  for  a  moment, 
and  then  Smith  threw  Wallach  heavily  to  the  sidewalk. 
Sitting  on  his  prostrate  foe,  Smith  began  to  pummel 
him,  but  at  the  first  blow  Wallach  got  one  of  his 
antagonist's  thumbs  into  his  mouth,  where  he  held  it 
as  if  it  were  in  a  vise.  Smith  roared,  "  Let  go  my 
thumb !  you  are  eating  it  to  the  bone !"  Just  then  up 
came  Mr.  Keitt,  of  South  Carolina,  and  Mr.  Bocock,  of 
Virginia,  who  went  to  the  rescue  of  Smith,  Keitt  say- 
ing :  "  This  is  no  way  for  gentlemen  to  settle  their 
disputes,"  as  he  forced  Wallach's  jaws  apart,  to  re- 
lease the  "  cha wed-up  "  thumb.  Wallach  was  unin- 
jured, but  for  several  weeks  he  went  heavily  armed, 
expecting  that  Smith  would  attack  him. 

One  day  Mr.  McMullen,  of  Virginia,  in  advocating 
the  passage  of  a  bill,  alluded  to  some  previous  remarks 
of  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  not  the  one  (Mr.  Gid- 
dings)  "  who  bellowed  so  loudly,"  he  said,  "  but  to 
his  sleek-headed  colleague"  (Mr.  Taylor).  Mr  Tay- 
lor, who  was  entering  the  hall  just  as  this  allusion  was 
made  to  him,  replied  that  he  would  rather  have  a  sleek 
head  than  a  blockhead. 

Mr.  McMullen  then  said :  "I  intended  nothing  per- 


None  too  much  Sense. 


467 


sonally  offensive,  which  no  one  ought  to  have  known 
better  than  the  gentleman  himself.  I  made  use  of 
the  remark  at  which  the  gentleman  exhibited  an  undue 
degree  of  excitement  to  produce  a  little  levity  ;  neither 
of  us  ought  to  complain  of  our  heads.  If  united,  there 
would  not  be  more  brains  than  enough  for  one  common 
head." 


AN  OLD-FASHIONED   ROUGH  AND  TUMBLE. 

Senator  Jones,  of  Tennessee,  generally  called  "  Lean 
Jimmy  Jones,"  was  the  only  Democrat  who  ever  tried 
to  meet  Mr.  John  P.  Hale  with  his  own  weapons — ridi- 
cule and  sarcasm.  One  day,  after  having  been  worsted 
in  a  verbal  tilt,  Mr.  Jones  sought  revenge  by  telling  a 
story  as  illustrating  his  opponent's  adroitness.  There 
was  a  Kentuckian,  he  said,  whose  name  was  Sam  Wil- 
who  settled  on  the  margin  of  the  Mississippi 


son, 


River.    He  had  to  settle  upon  high  lands,  near  swamps 


468  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

from  ten  to  twenty  miles  wide.  The  swamps  were 
filled  with,  wild  hogs,  which  were  considered  a  species 
of  public  property  that  every  man  had  a  right  to  shoot, 
but  they  did  not  have  a  right  thereby  to  shoot  tame 
ones. 

Sam  had  a  very  large  family,  and  was  known  to  en- 
tertain a  mortal  aversion  to  work.  Yet  he  always  lived 
well  and  had  plenty  of  meat.  It  was  inquired  how 
Sam  had  always  so  much  to  eat  ?  Nobody  saw  him 
work.  He  used  to  hunt  and  walk  about,  and  he  had 
plenty  of  bacon  constantly  on  hand.  People  began  to 
suspect  that  Sam  was  not  only  shooting  \vild  hogs,  but 
sometimes  tame  ones ;  so  they  watched  him  a  good 
deal  to  see  whether  they  could  not  catch  him.  Sam, 
however,  was  too  smart  for  them,  and  always  evaded, 
just  (said  Mr.  Jones)  as  the  honorable  Senator  from 
New  Hampshire  does.  Finally,  old  man  Bailey  was 
walking  out  one  day  looking  after  his  hogs  at  the 
edge  of  the  swamp,  and  he  saw  Sam  going  along 
quietly  with  his  gun  on  his  shoulder.  Presently  Sam's 
rifle  was  fired.  Bailey  walked  on  to  the  cane-brake,  as 
he  knew  he  had  a  very  fine  hog  there,  and  looking 
over  he  found  Sain  in  the  act  of  drawing  out  his  knife 
to  butcher  it.  Old  man  Bailey,  slapping  Sam  on  the 
shoulder,  said,  "  I  have  caught  you  at  last."  "  Caught 
thunder!"  said  Sam;  "  I  will  shoot  all  your  blasted  hogs 
that  come  biting  at  me  in  this  way."  "That  is  the 
way,"  Senator  Jones  went  on  to  say,  "  that  the  Senator 
from  New  Hampshire  gets  out  of  his  scrapes." 

Mrs.  Pierce  came  to  the  White  House  sorrow-stricken 
by  the  sad  death  of  her  only  child,  but  she  bravely  de- 
termined not  to  let  her  private  griefs  prevent  the  cus- 
tomary entertainments.  During  the  sessions  of  Con- 
gress there  was  a  state  dinner  once  a  week,  to  which 


Social  Sensations. 


469 


thirty-six  guests  were  invited,  and  on  other  week-days 
half-a-dozen  guests  partook  of  the  family  dinner,  at 
which  no  wine  was  served.  There  was  also  a  morning 
and  an  evening  reception  every  week  in  the  season,  at 
which  Mrs.  Pierce,  dressed  in  deep  mourning,  received 
with  the  President. 

The  evening  receptions,  which  were  equivalent  to  the 


STATE   DINING-ROOM. 

drawing-rooms  of  foreign  courts,  were  looked  forward 
to  with  great  interest  by  strangers  and  the  young 
people,  taxing  the  busy  fingers  of  mantua-makers, 
while  anxious  fathers  reluctantly  loosened  their  purse- 
strings.  Carriages  and  camelias  were  thenceforth  in 
demand  ;  white  kid  gloves  were  kept  on  the  store  coun- 
ters ;  and  hair-dressers  wished  that,  like  the  fabulous 
monster,  they  could  each  have  a  hundred  hands  capable 


470  Per 'ley *s  Reminiscences. 

of  wielding  the  curling-tongs.  When  the  evening 
arrived,  hundreds  of  carriages  might  be  seen  hastening 
toward  the  spacious  portico  of  the  White  House,  under 
which  they  drove  and  sat  down  their  freights.  In 
Europe,  it  would  have  required  at  least  a  battalion  of 
cavalry  to  have  preserved  order,  but  in  Washington  the 
coaches  quietly  fell  into  the  file,  and  patiently  awaited 
their  turn.  At  the  door,  the  ladies  turned  into  the  pri- 
vate dining-room,  used  as  a  dressing-room,  from  whence 
they  soon  emerged,  nearly  all  of  them  in  the  full  glory 
of  evening  toilet  and  radiant  with  smiles.  Falling 
into  line,  the  visitors  passed  into  the  parlors,  where 
they  were  received  by  President  Pierce  and  his  wife. 
Between  the  President  and  the  door  stood  District  Mar- 
shal Hoover  and  one  of  his  deputies,  who  inquired  the 
name  of  each  unknown  person,  and  introduced  each 
one  successively  to  the  President.  The  names  of 
strangers  were  generally  misunderstood,  and  they  were 
re-baptized,  to  their  annoyance,  but  President  Pierce, 
with  winning  cordiality,  shook  hands  with  each  one, 
and  put  them  directly  at  ease,  chatting  pleasantly  until 
some  one  else  came  along,  when  he  introduced  them  to 
his  wife. 

Leaving  the  Presidential  group  and  traversing  the 
beautiful  Green  Drawing-room,  the  guests  entered  the 
famed  Bast  Room,  which  was  filled  with  the  talent, 
beauty,  and  fashion  of  the  metropolis.  Hundreds  of 
either  sex  occupied  the  middle  of  the  room  or  congre- 
gated around  its  walls,  which  enshrined  a  maelstrom  of 
beauty,  circling  and  ever  changing,  like  the  figures  in 
a  kaleidoscope.  A  prominent  figure  in  these  scenes 
was  Edward  Everett,  cold-blooded  and  impassible,  bright 
and  lonely  as  the  gilt  weather-cock  over  the  church  in 
which  he  officiated  ere  he  became  a  politician.  John 


Van  Buretfs  Receptions.  471 

Van  Buren — "  Prince  John,"  he  was  called — was 
another  notable,  his  conversation  having  the  donble 
charm  of  seeming  to  be  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  the 
speaker  and  at  the  same  time  to  delight  the  listener. 
General  Scott,  in  full  uniform,  was  the  beau  ideal  of  a 
military  hero,  and  with  him  were  other  brave  officers  of 
the  army  and  of  the  navy,  each  one  having  his  history 
ashore  or  afloat. 


GREEN    DRAWING-ROOM. 


The  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  were  marked 
by  the  crosses  and  ribbons  which  they  wore  at  their 
buttonholes.  .  Mr.  Crampton,  who  represented  Queen 
Victoria,  was  a  noble  specimen  of  the  fine  old  English 
gentleman,  personally  popular,  although  he  did  not  get 
along  well  with  Secretary  Marcy.  The  Count  de 
Sartiges,  who  had  recently  married  Miss  Thorndike,  of 
Boston,  was  an  embodiment  of  French  character,  as 
Baron  Von  Gerolt  was  of  the  Prussian,  and  the  little 


472  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

Kingdom  of  Belgium  had  its  diplomatist  in  the  august 
person  of  Monsieur  Henri  Bosch  Spencer.  Senor  don 
Calderon  de  la  Barca,  the  Spanish  Minister,  was  very 
popular,  as  was  his  gifted  wife,  so  favorably  known  to 
American  literature.  As  for  the  South  American  Re- 
publics, their  representatives  were  generally  well  dressed 
and  able  to  put  a  partner  through  a  polka  in  a  manner 
gratifying  to  her  and  to  her  anxious  mamma. 

Then  there  were  the  office-seekers,  restless,  anxious, 
yet  confident  of  obtaining  some  place  of  profit ;  the 
office-holders,  many  of  whom  saw  in  passing  events  the 
handwriting  on  the  wall  which  announced  their  dis- 
missal ; .  the  verdant  visitors  who  had  come  to  Washing- 
ton to  see  how  the  country  was  governed ;  and  gener- 
ally a  score  of  Indians  with  gay  leggings,  scarlet 
blankets,  pouches  worked  with  porcupine  quills,  and 
the  full  glory  of  war  paint.  The  Marine  Band  dis- 
coursed sweet  music,  but  no  refreshments  were  offered, 
so,  many  of  the  gentlemen,  after  having  escorted  the 
ladies  to  their  homes,  repaired  to  the  restaurants,  where 
canvas-back  ducks,  wild  turkeys,  and  venison  steaks 
were  discussed,  with  a  running  fire  of  champagne 
corks  and  comments  on  the  evening. 

Secretary  McClelland's  series  of  evening  receptions 
were  thronged  with  the  elite  of  the  South,  and  at  Sec- 
retary Guthrie's  one  could  see  the  majestic  belles  of 
Kentucky.  The  finest  diplomatic  entertainment  was 
given  by  the  Brazilian  Minister,  in  honor  of  the  birth- 
day of  his  imperial  master,  and  the  evenings  when 
Madame  Calderon  de  la  Barca  was  "  at  home  "  always 
found  her  attractive  drawing-rooms  crowded.  General 
Almonte,  the  Mexican  Minister,  was  noted  for  his  break- 
fast-parties, as  was  Senor  Marcoleta,  of  Nicaragua, 
who  was  trying  hard  to  have  an  interoceanic  canal  cut 


A   Costly  Frying  Pan. 


473 


through  his  country.  Among  the  Congressmen,  Gov- 
ernor Aikeii,  of  South  Carolina,  gave  the  most  elegant 
entertainments,  at  which  the  supper-table  was  orna- 
mented with  a  silver  service,  "  looted  "  in  after  years  by 
soldiers,  with  the  exception  of  a  large  solid  silver 
waiter,  which  was  found  in  a  swamp,  propped  up  on 
four  stones,  and  with  a  fire  under  it,  some  deserters 
having  used  it  to  fry  bacon  in.  A  gloom  was  cast  over 
this  gay  society,  however,  by  the  sad  fate  of  the  wife  of 
Mr.  Justice  Daniels,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  whose 
clothes  accidentally  took  fire,  and  burned  her  so  terribly 
that  she  survived  but  a  few  hours. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  was  born  February  22d,  1732,  in  Westmoreland  County,  Va. ;  was  public 
Surveyor  when  sixteen  years  of  age ;  when  nineteen  was  Military  Inspector  of  one  of  the  districts 
of  Virginia;  participated  in  the  French  and  Indian  war,  1753;  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Colonial 
forces  in  1755;  married  Mrs.  Martha  Custis,  1759;  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  1774;  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  Continental  forces,  1775;  resigned  command,  December  23d,  1783;  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  April  3oth,  1789,  to  March  4th,  1797;  died  at  Mount  Vernon,  December 
I4th,  1799. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

GROWTH   OF  THE   METROPOLIS. 

THE  CRAMPTON  DIFFICULTY — UNSUCCESSFUL  FRENCH  MEDIATION — THE 
DIPLOMATIC  CORPS —INFORMATION  FOR  PUBLICATION — MR.  BU- 
CHANAN IN  ENGLAND — WASHINGTON  HOTELS— THE  NEW  HALL  OF 
THE  HOUSE. 

MR.  GUSHING  conceived  the  idea  of  getting 
up  a  difficulty  with  Great  Britain,  as  likely 
to  advance  the  prospects  of  President  Pierce 
for  re-election,  and  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  people 
from  the  anti-slavery  question.     The  pretext  was  the 
recruiting  in  the  United  States,  under  the  direction  of 
the  British    diplomatic    and    consular    representatives 
of  the  Crown,  of  men  for  the  regiments  engaged  in  the 
Crimean  War. 

Mr.  Crampton,  the  British  Minister,  was  a  large, 
well-built  man,  with  white  hair  and  side  whiskers, 
courtly  manners  and  great  conversational  powers.  His 
father  had  been  a  celebrated  surgeon  in  Ireland,  from 
whom  he  afterward  inherited  considerable  property. 
He  lived  at  Carolina  Place,  on  Georgetown  Heights,  in 
good  style,  entertained  liberally,  rather  cultivated  the 
acquaintance  of  American  artists  and  journalists,  and 
was  often  seen  going  on  an  angling  expedition  to  the 
Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac.  He  undoubtedly  directed 
the  objectionable  recruiting  without  the  slightest  dip- 
lomatic skill.  He  seemed  to  go  to  work  in  the  rough- 
474 


Ministerial  Misunderstandings.  475 

est  and  rudest  manner  to  violate  our  laws,  as  if  lie  did 
not  care  a  copper  whether  he  was  discovered  or  not, 
and  to  comment  in  coarse  terms  upon  our  institutions. 

Mr.  Marcy,  as  Secretary  of  State,  sent  all  the  facts  to 
Great  Britain,  his  despatch  closing  with  a  peremptory 
demand  for  the  recall  of  Mr.  Crampton  and  the  British 
Consuls  at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Cincinnati. 
Accompanying  the  despatch  was  an  elaborate  opinion 
by  Attorney-General  Gushing,  who  cited  numerous 
precedents,  and  declared  that  the  demand  for  the  recall 
of  those  who  had  been  accomplices  in  the  violation  of 
municipal  and  international  laws  should  not  be  taken 
as  a  cause  of  offense  by  Great  Britain. 

Monsieur  de  Sartiges,  the  French  Minister,  under- 
took to  mediate  between  Mr.  Crampton  and  Secretary 
Marcy.  Calling  at  the  Department  of  State,  he  repre- 
sented that  the  continuance  of  peaceful  relations  be- 
tween England  and  the  United  States  was  the  earnest 
wish  of  his  master,  the  Emperor,  who,  after  his  acces- 
sion to  the  throne  of  France,  had  personally,  and 
through  his  representatives,  evinced  on  every  possible 
occasion  a  friendship  to  the  Union.  Mr.  Marcy  ex- 
pressed satisfaction  at  the  assurance  given,  and  re- 
marked that  it  did  not  correspond  with  other  official 
statements  which  the  United  States  had  received  from 
parties  of  reputable  standing  in  their  own  country. 

The  Minister  promptly  interposed  and  denied  in  the 
firmest  manner  the  truth  of  any  report  adverse  to  the 
one  which  he  had  just  made.  The  scene  at  this  mo- 
ment, according  to  representation,  must  have  been  one 
of  interest,  for  Mr.  Marcy,  rising  from  his  seat,  ex- 
cused his  absence  for  a  moment.  He  returned  in  a 
short  time  from  an  adjoining  room  with  an  original 
despatch  in  his  hand,  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of 


476 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


War,  Mr.  Davis,  which  he  opened,  and  by  permission 
of  M.  Sartiges,  commenced  reading  extracts. 

"  Now,"  said  Mr.  Marcy,  closing  the  document, 
a  what  I  have  just  read  to  you  is  from  a  report  of  an 
army  commission  which  was  sent  out  by  this  Govern- 
ment for  the  benefit  of  science,  and  am  I  to  understand 
from  the  free  assurance  that  you  have  given,  that  his 
Majesty,  the  Emperor,  was  ignorant  of  the  language 

used  by  his  War 
Secretary  to  the 
officers  of  this 
mission,to  whom 
he  not  only  de- 
clined extending 
the  courtesies  so- 
licited, but  added 
to  the  refusal 


SECRETARY  JEFF.  DAVIS. 


an  expression 
hoping  '  that 
when  they  met 
it  •  might  be  at 
the  cannon's 
mouth '?"  Mr. 
Marcy  contin- 
ued: "This  lan- 
guage is  further 
corroborated  by  a  despatch  to  this  department  from  our 
Minister  at  Paris." 

De  Sartiges  took  a  hurried  leave,  but  sought  revenge 
by  making  himself  generally  disagreeable.  He  had  a 
row  with  Mr.  Barney,  a  venerable  ex-member  of  the 
House  and  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school.  At  evening 
parties  before  leaving  he  would  enter  the  drawing-room 
where  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  assembled,  with  his 


a  Out  of  Thine  Own  Mouth.'1''  477 

hat  on  and  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  which  he  would  light 
by  the  chandelier.  He  also  persisted  in  firing  at  cats 
and  rats  from  the  back  windows  of  his  house,  thus  en- 
dangering the  lives  of  persons  in  the  adjacent  back 
yards. 

Mr.  Crampton  was  recalled  and  received  a  diplomatic 
promotion,  going  to  St.  Petersburg  as  Sir  John  Cramp- 
ton.  While  there,  in  1861,  he  married  a  young  daugh- 
ter of  Balfe,  who  afterward  procured  a  divorce,  after  a 
curious  suit  at  law,  tried  before  "  a  jury  of  matrons." 

England  was  forced  to  admit  that  Mr.  Crampton's 
conduct  was  "  notoriously  at  war  with  the  rights  of 
neutrality  and  national  honor."  This  was  not  alto- 
gether pleasant  to  some  of  the  old  Nestors  of  the  Sen- 
ate, who  wanted  once  more  to  sound  the  war  tocsin. 
General  Cass,  who  had  had  a  bad  fall  on  the  outside 
steps  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  was  u  eager  for 
the  fray ;"  the  valiant  Clayton,  of  Delaware,  saw  an 
opportunity  to  wipe  out  the  stigma  cast  upon  his  treaty ; 
and  although  the  patriarchal  Butler  (owner  of  men- 
servants  and  maid-servants,  flocks  and  herds)  displayed 
the  lily  flag  of  peace  in  the  Senatorial  debate,  it  was 
as  eccentric  as  were  his  wierd-like  white  locks.  Lord 
Clarendon  had  then  his  hands  full,  but  his  successors 
took  their  revenge  in  1862,  when  attempts  were  made 
to  obtain  recruits  in  Ireland  for  the  Union  Army.  Mr. 
Cushing's  elaborate  arguments  against  enlistments  for 
a  foreign  power  were  copied  and  sent  back  to  the  De- 
partment of  State  at  Washington. 

The  diplomatic  representatives  of  Queen  and  Czar, 
Emperor  and  Kaiser,  were  greatly  troubled  during  the 
Crimean  and  other  European  wars,  and  it  would  not 
answer  for  them  to  be  seen  in  friendly  relations  with 
•each  other.  These  foreign  diplomats  delude  themselves 


478 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


with,  the  belief  that  they  play  an  important  political 
part  at  Washington.  So  they  do  in  the  opinion  of  the 
marriageable  damsels,  who  are  flattered  with  their  flir- 
tations, and  in  the  estimation  of  snobbish  sojourners, 
who  glory  in  writing  home  that  they  have  shaken 

hands  with  a  lord,  had  a  baron 
to  dine  with  them,  or  loaned  an 
attache  a  hundred  dollars.  But, 
in  reality,  they  are  the  veriest 
supernumeraries  in  the  political 
drama  now  being  performed  on 
the  Washington  stage.  Should 
any  difficulty  arise  with  the  for- 
eign powers  they  represent,  spe- 
cial Ministers  would  be  appointed 
to  arrange  it,  and  meanwhile  the 
Corps  Diplomatique  "  give  tone 
to  society,"  and  is  a  potent 
power — in  its  own  estimation. 

The  various  legations  all  ex- 
hibit their  national  characteris- 
tics. The  British  attaches  rep- 
resent the  Belgravian  of  the 
London  magazines ;  their  hair 
parted  just  a  line  off  the  exact 
centre,  their  soft  eyes  only  one 
degree  firmer  than  those  of  their 
sisters',  while  their  beautiful, 
long  side-whiskers  are  wonderful  to  behold.  The 
Spanish  gentlemen  one  recognizes  by  their  close- 
shorn  black  heads  and  smooth  faces,  all  courtesy,  in- 
evitable pride  and  secretiveness,  eyes  that,  like  those 
of  their  women,  betray  a  hundred  intrigues,  because 
they  seek  to  conceal  so  much.  The  exquisite  polite- 


ONE  OF  THE  LEGATION. 


Courtesy  to  the  Press.  479 

ness  of  the  South  Americans  make  you  wonder  if  you 
really  can  be  dust  and  ashes  after  this  perfect  deference, 
and  their  manners  are  marked  by  more  vivacity  than 
those  of  the  Spanish  people.  The  Russian  diplomats 
have  generally  been  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with 
Congressmen  and  citizens  generally,  while  the  Prus- 
sians and  the  Frenchmen  have  had  several  little  diffi- 
culties with  the  Department  of  State  and  with  the 
residents  of  Washington. 

Although  Mr.  Marcy  was  unwilling  to  cater  for  the 
favor  of  the  press  to  the  extent  which  characterized 
the  conduct  of  many  other  public  men,  he  generally 
had  a  good  word  for  the  reporters  and  correspondents 

whom  he  met.  "  Well,  Mr. ,"  he  would  say,  as  he 

walked  up  the  steps  of  his  office  in  the  morning,  to 
some  member  of  the  press,  who  affected  or  had  a  great 
acquaintance  with  the  secrets  of  State — "  Well,  what  is 
the  news  in  the  State  Department  ?  You  know  I  have 
always  to  go  to  the  newspaper  men  to  find  out  what  is 
going  on  here."  At  another  time  he  would  suggest  a 
paragraph  which,  he  would  quizzically  intimate,  might 
produce  an  alarm  in  political  circles,  improvising,  for 
example,  at  a  party  of  Senator  Seward's,  some  story 
in  -the  ordinary  letter-writer  style  about  Seward  and 
Marcy  being  seen  talking  together,  and  ending  with 
ominous  speculations  as  to  an  approaching  coalition, 
etc.,  in  doing  which  he  would  happily  hit  off  the 
writers  for  the  press. 

Mr.  Gushing  was  more  accommodating.  He  would 
converse  freely  with  those  correspondents  in  whom  he 
had  confidence,  and  permit  them  to  copy  his  opinions 
in  advance  of  their  delivery  upon  their  pledges  that 
they  should  not  be  printed  before  they  were  officially 
made  public.  He  wrote  a  great  many  editorials,  some- 


480  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

what  ponderous  and  verbose,  for  the  Washington 
Union,  and  the  elaborate  statements  on  executive  mat- 
ters made  by  correspondents  who  enjoyed  his  favor 
were  often  dictated  by  him. 

Mr.  Buchanan,  removed  from  the  intrigues  of  home 
politics,  kept  up  an  active  correspondence  with  his 
friends.  "  I  expected,"  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Henry  A. 
Wise,  "  ere  this  to  have  heard  from  you.  You  ought 
to  remember  that  I  am  now  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land,  and  that  the  letters  of  so  valued  a  friend  as  your- 
self would  be  to  me  a  source  of  peculiar  pleasure.  I 
never  had  any  heart  for  this  mission,  and  I  know  that 
I  shall  never  enjoy  it.  Still,- 1  am  an  optimist  in  my 
philosophy,  and  shall  endeavor  to  make  my  sojourn 
here  as  useful  to  my  country  and  as  agreeable  to 
myself  as  possible. 

"  I  have  been  in  London,"  Mr.  Buchanan  went  on  to 
say,  u  long  enough  to  form  an  opinion  that  the  English 
people  generally  are  not  friendly  to  the  United  States. 
They  look  upon  us  with  jealous  eyes,  and  the  public 
journals  generally,  and  especially  the  Leviathan  Times, 
speak  of  us  in  terms  of  hostility.  The  Times  is  par- 
ticularly malignant,  and  as  it  notoriously  desires  to  be 
the  echo  of  public  opinion,  its  language  is  the  more 
significant.  From  all  I  can  learn,  almost  every  per- 
son denounces  what  they  are  pleased  to  call  the  crime 
of  American  slavery,  and  ridicules  the  idea  that  we 
can  be  considered  a  free  people  whilst  it  shall  exist. 
They  know  nothing  of  the  nature  and  character  of 
slavery  in  the  United  States,  and  have  no  desire  to 
learn.  Should  any  public  opportunity  offer,  I  am  fully 
prepared  to  say  my  say  upon  this  subject,  as  I  have 
already  done  privately  in  high  quarters." 

The  first   hotel  in   the   District   of   Columbia   was 


481 

Suter's  Tavern,  a  long,  low  wooden  building  in 
Georgetown,  kept  by  John  Suter.  Next  came  the 
Union  Hotel  there,  kept  by  Crawford.  The  National 
Hotel  in  Washington  was  for  some  years  under  the 
management  of  Mr.  Gadsby,  who  had  previously  been 


SUTER'S  TAVERN   (1791.) 

a  noted  landlord  in  Alexandria,  and  what  was  after- 
ward the  Metropolitan  Hotel  was  the  Indian  Queen, 
kept  by  the  Browns,  father  and  sons.  Another  hotel 
was  built  nearer  the  White  House  by  Colonel  John 
Tayloe,  and  was  inherited  by  his  son,  Mr.  J3.  Ogle 
31 


482 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


Tayloe.  It  was  not,  however,  pecuniarily  successful, 
as  it  was  thought  to  be  too  far  up-town.  Mrs.  Tayloe, 
who  was  born  at  the  North,  used  to  visit  her  child- 
hood's home  every  summer,  and  in  traveling  on  one  of 
those  floating  palaces,  the  day-boats  on  the  Hudson 
River,  she  was  struck  with  the  business  energy  and 
desire  to  please'  everybody  manifested  by  the  steward. 
On  her  return  Colonel  Tayloe  mentioned  the  want  of 
success  which  had  attended  his  hotel,  and  she  remarked 
that  if  he  could  get  Mr.  Willard,  the  steward  of  the 


THE   EBBITT   HOUSE. 


Albany  steamer,  as  its  landlord,  there  would  be  no  fear 
as  to  its  success.  Mr.  Tayloe  wrote  to  Mr.  Willard,  a 
native  of  Westminster,  Vermont,  who  came  to  Wash- 
ington, and  was  soon,  in  connection  with  his  brother,  B. 
D.  Willard,  in  charge  of  Mr.  Tayloe's  hotel,  then 
called  the  City  Hotel.  The  Willards  gave  to  this  es- 
tablishment the  same  attention  which  had  character- 
ized their  labors  on  board  of  the  steamboat.  They  met 
their  guests  as  they  alighted  from  the  stages  in  which 
they  came  to  Washington.  They  stood  at  the  head  of 


Hotel  Development. 


483 


their  dinner-tables,  wearing  white  linen  aprons,  and 
carved  the  joints  of  meat,  the  turkeys,  and  the  game. 
They  were  ever  ready  to  courteously  answer  questions, 
and  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  make  a  sojourn  at  the 
City  Hotel  homelike  and  agreeable. 

Success  crowned  these  efforts  to  please  the  public, 
and  the  City  Hotel  soon  took  the  first  rank  among  the 
caravanserais  of  the  national  metropolis.  Mr.  K.  D. 
Willard  retired,  and  Mr.  Henry  A.  Willard  took  into 
partnership  with  him  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Willard,  while 


WILLARD'S   HOTEL. 


another  brother,  Mr.  Caleb  C.  Willard,  became  the  land- 
lord of  the  popular  Bbbitt  House.  In  time  it  was  de- 
termined to  rebuild  the  hotel,  which  was  done  under 
the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Henry  Willard,  who 
was  designed  by  nature  for  an  architect.  When  the 
house  was  completed  it  was  decided  that  it  should  be 
called  thenceforth  Willard's  Hotel,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred gentlemen  were  invited  to  a  banquet  given  at  its 
opening.  After  the  cloth  was  removed,  the  health  of 
the  Messrs.  Willard  was  proposed  as  the  first  toast,  and 


484  Perley*s  Reminiscences. 

then  Mr.  Edward  Everett  was  requested  to  make  a 
reply.  He  spoke  with  his  accustomed  ease,  saying 
that  there  are  occasions  when  deeds  speak  louder  than 
words,  and  this  was  one  of  them.  Instead  of  Mr.  Wil- 
lard  returning  thanks  to  the  company  present,  it  was 
the  company  that  was  under  obligations  to  him.  In 
fact,  he  thought  that  in  paying  their  respects  to  Air. 
Willard,  they  were  but  doing  a  duty,  though  certainly 
a  duty  most  easily  performed.  '  There  are  few  duties 
in  life,"  said  Mr.  Everett,  "  that  require  less  nerve  than 
to  come  together  and  eat  a  good  dinner.  There  is  very 
little  self-denial  in  that.  Indeed,  self-denial  is  not  the 
principle  which  generally  carries  us  to  a  hotel,  although 
it  sometimes  happens  that  we  have  to  practice  it  while 
there."  Mr.  Everett  went  on  to  say  that  under  the 
roof  which  sheltered  them  he  had  passed  a  winter  with 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  Judge 
Story,  Mr.  Calhoun,  Mr.  Clay,  and  Mr.  Webster. 
These  were  all  gone,  but  with  them  he  could  name 
another  then  living,  and  not  unworthy  to  be  associated 
with  them,  Washington  Irving.  "  Think  of  men  like 
these  gathered  together  at  the  same  time  around  the 
festive  board  under  this  roof!  That  was,  indeed,  the 
feast  of  reason,  not  merely  the  flash  of  merriment, 
which  set  the  table  in  a  roar,  but  that  gushing  out  of 
convivial  eloquence ;  that  cheerful  interchange  of 
friendly  feeling  in  which  the  politician  and  the  parti- 
san are  forgotten.  Yes,  gentlemen,"  Mr.  Everett  went 
on  to  say,  u  there  were  giants  in  those  days  ;  giants  in 
intellect,  but  in  character  and  spirit  they  were  gentle- 
men, and  in  their  familiar  intercourse  with  each  other 
they  had  all  the  tenderness  of  brethren.' 

The    new   hall    of    the    House   of    Representatives 
was   finished   about   this   time.      It    was    throughout 


486  Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

gayly  decorated,  and  its  ceiling  glittered  with  gilding, 
but  it  was  walled  in  from  all  direct  communication 
with  fresh  air  and  sunlight.  Captain  Meigs,  of  the 
Engineer  Corps,  who  had  been  intrusted  by  Secretary 
Davis  with  the  erection  of  the  wings,  had  added  to  the 
architect's  plans  an  encircling  row  of  committee-rooms 
and  clerical  offices.  Instead  of  ventilating  the  hall  by 
windows,  a  system  was  adopted  patterned  after  that 
tried  in  the  English  House  of  Commons,  of  pumping 
in  air  heated  in  the  winter  and  cooled  in  the  summer, 
and  Captain  Meigs  had  thermometers  made,  each  one 
bearing  his  name  and  rank,  in  which  the  mercury 
could  only  ascend  to  ninety  degrees  and  only  fall  to 
twenty-four  degrees  above  zero.  He  thought  that  by 
his  system  of  artificial  ventilation  it  would  never  be 
hotter  or  colder  than  their  limits  ;  but  he  was  wofully 
mistaken,  and  immense  sums  have  since  been  expended 
in  endeavoring  to  remedy  the  deficient  ventilation. 
The  acoustic  properties  of  the  new  hall  were  superior 
to  those  of  the  classic  and  grand  old  hall,  but  with  that 
exception,  the  gaudily  embellished  new  hall  was  less 
convenient,  not  so  well  lighted  and  ventilated,  and  far 
inferior  in  dignified  appearance  to  the  old  one. 


ABBOTT  LAWRENCE  was  born  at  Groton,  Massachusetts,  December  i6th.  1792  ;  was  a  Representa- 
tive iu  Congress  from  Massachusetts,  1835-1837,  and  1839-1840  ;  was  Minister  to  Great  Britain,  1849. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

THE    NORTHERN     CHAMPIONS. 

FESSENDEN,  OF  MAINE — THE  STIRLING  CLAIM — SOCIAL  FESTIVITIES — 
MARRIAGE  OF  JUDGE  DOUGLAS — CONGRESSIONAL  SCENES — SECRETARY 
OF  WAR  DAVIS— ART  AND  LITERATURE— GEORGE  W.  CHILDS— J.  R. 
BARTLETT. 

THE  entrance  of  William  Pitt  Fessenden  into 
the  Senate  Chamber  was  graphically  sketched 
years  afterward  by  Charles  Sunnier.  "  He 
came,"  said  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  "  in  the 
midst  of  that  terrible  debate  on  the  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska bill,  by  which  the  country  was  convulsed  to  its 
centre,  and  his  arrival  had  the  effect  of  a  reinforcement 
on  a  field  of  battle.  Those  who  stood  for  freedom  then 
were  few  in  numbers — not  more  than  fourteen — while 
thirty-seven  Senators  in  solid  column  voted  to  break 
the  faith  originally  plighted  to  freedom,  and  to  over- 
turn a  time-honored  landmark,  opening  that  vast 
Mesopotamian  region  to  the  curse  of  slavery.  Those 
anxious  days  are  with  difficulty  comprehended  by  a 
Senate  where  freedom  rules.  One  more  in  our  small 
number  was  a  sensible  addition.  We  were  no  longer 
fourteen,  but  fifteen.  His  reputation  at  the  bar,  and 
his  fame  in  .  the  other  House,  gave  assurance  which 
was  promptly  sustained.  He  did  not  wait,  but  at  once 
entered  into  the  debate  with  all  those  resources  which 
afterward  became  so  famous.  The  scene  that  ensued 
exhibited  his  readiness  and  courage.  While  saying 

487 


488 


Perley^s  Reminiscences. 


that  the  people  of  the  North  were  fatigued  with  the 
threat  of  disunion,  that  they  considered  it  as  '  mere 
noise  and  nothing  else,'  he  was  interrupted  by  Mr. 
Butler,  of  South  Carolina,  always  ready  to  speak  for 
slavery,  exclaiming,  '  If  such  sentiments  as  yours  pre- 
vail I  want  a  dissolution  right  away  ' — a  characteristic 
intrusion  doubly  out  of  order.  To  which  the  new- 
comer rejoined,  'Do  not  delay  it  on  my  account;  do 

not  delay  it  on  account 
of  anybody  at  the 
North.'  The  effect  was 
electric ;  but  this  inci- 
dent was  not  alone. 
Douglas,  Cass,  and 
Butler  interrupted  on- 
ly to  be  worsted  by 
one  who  had  just  rid- 
den into  the  lists.  The 
feelings  on  the  other 
side  were  expressed  by 
the  Senator  from  South 
Carolina,  who,  after 
one  of  the  flashes  of 
debate  which  he  had 
provoked,  exclaimed : 
'Very  well,  go  on ;  I  have  no  hope  of  you!'  All 
this  will  be  found  in  the  Globe  precisely  as  I  give  it, 
but  the  Globe  could  not  picture  the  exciting  scene — 
the  Senator  from  Maine,  erect,  firm,  immovable  as  a  jut- 
ting promontory,  against  which  the  waves  of  ocean 
tossed  and  broke  in  dissolving  spray.  There  he  stood. 
Not  a  Senator,  loving  freedom,  who  did  not  feel  on  that 
day  that  a  champion  had  come." 

A  most  extraordinary  claim  was  presented  at  Wash- 


WILLIAM   PITT  FESSENDEN. 


An  Immense  Claim.  489 

ington  during  the  Pierce  Administration  by  Mr. 
Francis  B.  Hayes,  a  respectable  attorney,  who  had 
Reverdy  Johnson  as  his  legal  adviser.  It  was  from  the 
heirs  of  Sir  William  Alexander,  the  Earl  of  Stirling, 
who  was  regarded  as  the  most  brilliant  man  in  the 
courts  of  James  VI.  and  of  Charles  I.  He  received  from 
these  monarchs  grants  of  an  immense  domain  in  North 
America,  including,  in  addition  to  Nova  Scotia,  New 
Brunswick,  Prince  Edward's  Island,  and  Canada,  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  Maine,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin, 
together  with  a  strip  of  land  reaching  from  the  head- 
waters of  Lake  Superior  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  and 
"  the  lands  and  bounds  adjacent  to  the  said  Gulf  on 
the  west  and  south,  whether  they  be  found  a  part  of 
the  continent  or  mainland,  or  an  island,"  as  it  was 
thought  they  were,  which  was  commonly  called  and 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  California. 

The  immensity  of  this  land-claim  was  sufficient  to 
defeat  it,  and  it  was  asserted  that  the  claimant,  whose 
father  had  established  his  title  to  the  Earldom  of  Stir- 
ling in  the  Scotch  courts,  was  a  pretender,  and  that  the 
most  important  papers  substantiating  the  claim  were 
forgeries.  Just  then  there  appeared  in  BlackwoocPs 
Magazine  an  elaborate  article  of  more  than  sixty  pages, 
showing  up  the  worthlessness  of  the  claim,  and  the 
North  American  Review  published  a  reply,  in  which  it 
said:  "  If  the  present  claimant  is  indeed  (as  we  believe 
him  to  be)  the  legal  representative  of  the  first  Earl, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  is,  morally  speaking,  en- 
titled to  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  debt  secured 
by  royal  bond  to  his  ancestor,  and  that  it  would  not  be 
unworthy  the  magnanimity  of  both  the  British  Govern- 
ment and  our  own  to  tender  him  some  honorable  con- 
sideration for  the  entire  loss  to  his  family,  through  the 


49°  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

fortunes  of  war,  of  revenue  and  benefit  from  the  bona 
fide  and,  for  the  times,  immense  outlay  of  his  ancestor 
in  the  colonization  of  the  Western  wilderness."  No 
capitalists  were  found,  however,  who  were  willing  to 
advance  the  funds  for  the  prosecution  of  the  claim,  and 
Lord  Stirling  finally  accepted  a  department  clerkship, 
which  he  creditably  filled. 

The  last  winter  of  President  Pierce's  Administration 
was  a  very  gay  one  at  Washington.  In  addition  to  the 
official  and  public  entertainments  at  the  White  House, 
Secretaries  McClelland  and  Davis,  and  several  of  the 
foreign  Ministers,  gave  elegant  evening  parties,  the 
Southern  element  predominating  in  them.  Senator 
Seward  and  Speaker  Banks  also  gave  evening  recep- 
tions, and  the  leading  Republicans  generally  congre- 
gated at  the  pleasant  evening  tea-parties  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Bailey,  the  editor  of  the  Era,  where  Miss 
Dodge,  afterward  known  in  literature  as  "  Gail  Ham- 
ilton," enlivened  the  cozy  parlors  with  her  sparkling 
conversation. 

The  wedding  of  Judge  Douglas  was  a  social  event. 
His  first  wife  had  been  Miss  Martin,  a  North  Carolina, 
lady,  who  was  the  mother  of  his  two  young  sons,  who 
inherited  from  her  a  plantation  which  had  belonged  to 
her  father  in  Lawrence  County,  Mississippi,  on  which 
there  were  upward  of  a  hundred  slaves.  The  "  Little 
Giant's  "  second  wife  was  Miss  Ada  Cutts,  a  Washing- 
ton belle,  the  daughter  of  Richard  Cutts,  who  was  for 
twelve  years  a  Representative  from  Maine  when  it  was 
a  district  of  Massachusetts,  and  afterward  Comptroller 
of  the  Treasury.  Miss  Cutts  was  tall,  very  beautiful, 
and  well  qualified  by  education  and  deportment  to  ad- 
vance her  husband's  political  interests.  She  was  a 
devout  Roman  Catholic,  and  they  were  married  in  a 


.492  Perley's  Reminiscences. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  where  the  bridegroom  did  not 
seem  at  home.  She  had  no  children,  and  after  having 
been  for  some  years  a  widow,  she  was  married  a  second 
time  to  Colonel  Williams,  of  the  Adjutant  General's 
Department  of  the  Army. 

The  last  session  under  the  Pierce  Administration 
was  a  stormy  one.  Vice-President  Breckinridge  deliv- 
ered an  eloquent  address  when  the  Senate  removed  into 
its  new  chamber,  which  was  followed  by  angry  debates 
•on  the  tariff,  the  Pacific  Railroad,  the  fish  bounties, 
the  admission  of  Minnesota,  and  the  submarine  tele- 
graph to  England. 

In  the  House  Mr.  Banks  won  laurels  as  Speaker, 
displaying  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  intrica- 
cies of  parliamentary  rules  and  prompt  action  in  those 
cases  when  excited  Representatives  sought  to  set  pre- 
cedence at  defiance.  There  was  an  investigation  into  a 
charge  of  bribery  and  corruption,  made  by  Mr.  Simon- 
ton,  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Times,  and  he 
was  kept  in  the .  custody  of  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  for 
not  giving  the  facts  upon  which  he  had  based  his 
•charges.  It  was  evident  to  all,  however,  that  Mr. 
Simonton  was  correct  when  he  stated  that  "  a  corrupt 
organization  of  Congressmen  and  certain  lobby-agents 
•existed." 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  favored  ones,  the  officers 
•of  the  army  were  glad  when  the  termination  of  the 
term  of  service  of  Colonel  Jefferson  Davis  as  Secretary 
of  War  approached.  He  had  acted  as  though  he  was 
Commander-in-Chief,  treating  the  heads  of  bureaus  as 
if  they  were  his  orderlies,  and  directing  everything, 
from  a  review  down  to  the  purchase  of  shoe-blacking. 
He  also  changed  the  patterns  of  uniforms,  arms,  and 
equipments  several  times,  and  it  was  after  one  of  these 


New  Regimentals.  493. 

changes  that  he  received  a  communication  from  Lieu- 
tenant Derby,  well  known  in  literary  circles  as  John. 
Phoenix,  suggesting  that  each  private  have  a  stout  iron 
hook  projecting  from  a  round  plate,  to  be  strongly 
sewed  on  the  rear  of  his  trousers.  Illustrations  showed 
the  uses  to  which  this  hook  could  be  put.  In  one,  a 
soldier  was  shown  on  the  march,  carrying  his  effects 
suspended  from  this  hook ;  in  another,  a  row  of  men, 
were  hung  by  their  hooks  on  a  fence,  fast  asleep  ;  in  a, 
third,  a  company  was  shown  advancing  in  line  of  battle, 
each  man  having  a  rope  attached  to  his  hook,  the  other 
end  of  which  was  held  by  an  officer  in  the  rear,  who 
could  restrain  him  if  he  advanced  too  rapidly,  or  haul 
him  back  if  he  wa*s  wounded.  When  Secretary  Davis 
received  this  he  was  in  a  towering  rage,  and  he  an- 
nounced that  day  at  a  Cabinet  meeting  that  he  intended 
to  have  Lieutenant  Derby  tried  before  a  court-martial 
"  organized  to  convict  "  and  summarily  dismissed.  But 
the  other  Secretaries,  who  enjoyed  the  joke,  convinced 
him  that  if  the  affair  became  public  he  would  be 
laughed  at,  and  he  abandoned  the  prosecution  of  the 
daring  artist-author. 

Mr.  Healy  came  to  Washington  in  the  last  winter  of 
the  Pierce  Administration,  and  painted  several  capital 
portraits.  Mr.  Ames,  of  Boston,  who  exhibited  a  life- 
like portrait  of  Daniel  Webster,  and  Mr.  Powell  also- 
set  up  their  easels,  to  execute  orders.  Captain  East- 
man, of  the  army,  was  at  work  on  the  sketches  for  the 
illustrations  of  Schoolcraft's  great  work  on  the  Indians, 
and  Mr.  Charles  Lanman,  the  author-artist,  added  to 
his  already  well-filled  portfolios  of  landscapes.  Mr. 
George  West,  known  to  fame  as  a  painter  of  Chinese 
life,  was  engaged  by  Captain  Meigs  to  paint  prominent 
naval  events  in  spaces  in  the  elaborate  frescoing  on  the.- 


IN  THE  HEAT  OF  ACTION. 


DERBY'S  PLATE  AND  HOOK  ATTACHMENT. 


A    Virginia  Barbecue.  495 

walls  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  but 
after  he  had  completed  two  he  refused  to  submit  to  the 
military  rule  of  Meigs,  and  stopped  work.  What  he 
had  done  was  then  painted  out.  An  Italian  fresco- 
painter,  Mr.  Brimidi,  was  more  obedient  to  orders  and 
willing  to  answer  the  roll-calls,  so  he  was  permitted  to 
cover  the  interior  walls  of  the  new  Capitol  with  his 
work — allegorical,  historical,  diabolical,  and  mytho- 
logical. 

President  Pierce  was  the  most  popular  man  person- 
ally that  ever  occupied  the  Presidential  chair.  When, 
in  1855,  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad  was  com- 
pleted to  Culpepper  Court-House,  Virginia,  John  S. 
Barbour,  president  of  the  road,  invited  a  number  of 
gentlemen  to  inspect  it  and  partake  of  a  barbecue. 
President  Pierce,  Mr.  Bodisco,  the  Russian  Minister, 
and  other  distinguished  officials  were  of  the  invited 
guests.  The  party  went  to  Alexandria  by  steamer, 
and  on  landing  there  found  a  train  awaiting  them,  with 
a  baggage-car  fitted  up  as  a  lunch  room.  The  Presi- 
dent was  in  excellent  spirits,  and  when  the  excursion- 
ists reached  the  place  where  the  barbecue  was  held,  he 
enjoyed  a  succession  of  anecdotes  told  by  the  best  story 
tellers  of  the  party.  The  feast  of  barbecued  meats 
was  afterward  enjoyed,  and  early  in  the  afternoon  the 
party  again  took  the  cars  to  return.  On  the  return  trip 
a  gentleman  with  an  enormous  beard,  having  imbibed 
very  freely,  leaned  his  head  on  the  back  of  the  seat  and 
went  to  sleep.  A  blind  boy  got  in  at  one  of  the  sta- 
tions, and  moving  along  the  aisle  of  the  car,  his  hand 
came  in  contact  with  the  man's  beard,  which  he  mis- 
took for  a  lap-dog,  and  began  to  pat,  saying,  "  Pretty 
puppy,  pretty  puppy."  This  attention  disturbed  the 
sleeper,  who  gave  a  loud  snort,  when  the  boy  jumped 


496  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

back,  and  said,  "  You.  wouldn't  bite  a  blind  boy,  would! 
you  ?"  President  Pierce  was  much  amused  with  this 
occurrence,  and  often  spoke  of  it  when  he  met  those 
who  had  witnessed  it  with  him. 

Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  then  a  courteous  and  genial 
book  publisher  in  Philadelphia,  endeavored  to  obtain 
from  Congress  an  order  for  an  edition  of  Dr.  Kane's 
work  on  the  Arctic  regions.  The  House  passed  the 
requisite  resolution,  but  the  Senate  refused  to  concur, 
although  it  had  ordered  the  publication  of  several  ex- 
pensive accounts  of  explorations  at  the  far  West.  The 
Congressional  imprimatur  was  also  refused  to  the  re- 
port of  the  Hon.  J.  R.  Bartlett,  who  was  the  civilian 
member  of  the  Joint  Commission  which  had  established 
the  new  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Mex- 
ico. He  had  refused  to  bow  down  and  worship  the 
"  brass  coats  and  blue  buttons  "  of  his  military  asso- 
ciates, so  his  valuable  labors  were  ignored,  while  an 
enormous  sum  was  expended  in  illustrating  and  pub- 
lishing the  work  of  Major  Emory,  the  ranking  army 
officer  on  the  Commission. 


NATHANIEL  PRENTISS  BANKS  was  born  at  Waltham,  Massachusetts,  January  3oth,  1816;  wasi. 
Representative  in  Congress,  December  sth,  1853,  to  December  4th,  1857,  when  he  resigned,  having- 
served  as  Speaker  in  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress;  was  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  January,  1858, 
to  January,  1861  ;  served  throughout  the  war  as  major-general  of  volunteers  ;  was  a  Representative 
in  Congress.  December  4th,  1865,  to  March  3d,  1873,  and  again  December  6th,  1875,  to  March  3dr 
1877;  was  appointed  United  States  Marshal  for  the  district  of  Massachusetts. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

EXCITING  PRESIDENTIAL  CONTEST. 

•0EMOCRATIC  CANDIDATES  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY— JAMES  BUCHANAN — 
STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS— DELEGATES  TO  THE  CINCINNATI  CONVENTION 
— THE  STRUGGLE — THE  DISORGANIZED  DEMOCRACY  UNITED— OPPOSI- 
TION NOMINATIONS— THE  REPUBLICAN  CONVENTION —ELECTION  OP 
MR.  BUCHANAN — COUNTING  THE  VOTES. 

AS  the  time  for  the  Presidential  election  of  1856 
approached,  the  Democrats,  thoroughly  alarmed 
by  the  situation,  determined  to  make  a  last 
struggle  for  Southern  s  ivpremacy,  and  Washington  was 
agitated  by  the  friends  of  the  prominent  candidates  for 
the    Democratic   nomination    for   months     before    the 
National  Convention  at  Cincinnati. 

President  Pierce  earnestly  desired  a  renomination, 
and  had  distributed  "  executive  patronage  "  over  the 
country  in  a  way  which  he  hoped  would  secure  him  a 
majority  of  the  delegates.  He  had  done  all  in  his 
power  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  South,  but  suc- 
cess had  not  crowned  his  efforts,  and  he  was  ungrate- 
fully dropped,  as  Daniel  Webster  had  been  before  him. 
James  Buchanan,  then  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of 
his  age,  had  started  in  public  life  as  a  Federalist,  and 
in  1819  had  united  in  a  call  for  a  public  meeting  to 
protest  against  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  slave 
State.  But  he  had  become  converted  to  pro-slavery 
Democracy,  and  although  he  had  been  defeated  three 
times  in  Democratic  Conventions  as  a  candidate  for  the 
32  497 


498  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

Presidential  nomination,  he  was  regarded  as  the  most 
"  available  "  candidate  by  those  who  had  been  in  past 
years  identified  with  the  Whigs.  His  political  views 
are  summed  up  in  the  following  extract  from  one  of 
his  speeches  in  Congress :  "  If  I  know  myself,  I  am  a 
politician  neither  of  the  West  nor  the  Hast,  of  the 
North  nor  of  the  -South.  I  therefore  shall  forever 
avoid  any  expressions  the  direct  tendency  of  which 
must  be  to  create  sectional  jealousies,  and  at  length 
disunion — that  worst  of  all  political  calamities."  That 
he  endeavored  in  his  future  career  to  act  in  accord- 
ance with  this  uncertain  policy  no  candid  mind  can 
doubt. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas'  doctrine  of  "  squatter  sover- 
eignty "  was  repudiated  by  the  Southern  Democrats 
with  but  few  exceptions.  Bold,  dashing,  and  energetic 
in  all  that  he  undertook,  with  almost  superhuman 
powers  of  physical  endurance,  he  even  forced  the  ad- 
miration of  men  who  did  not  agree  with  his  opinions. 
No  man  ever  lived  in  this  country  who  could  go  before 
the  masses  "  on  the  stump,"  and  produce  such  a  marked 
effect,  and  his  personal  magnetism  won  him  many 
friends.  One  day  the  "  Little  Giant,"  going  up  to  Bev- 
erly Tucker,  a  prominent  Virginia  politician,  threw 
his  arm  upon  his  shoulder,  and  said,  in  his  impulsive 
way,  "Bev.,  old  boy,  I  love  you."  "Douglas,"  says- 
Tucker,  "will  you  always  love  me.?"  "Yes,"  says 
Douglas,  "  I  will."  "  But,"  persisted  Tucker,  "  will 
you  love  me  when  you  get  to  be  President  ?"  "If  I 
don't,  may  I  be  blanked  !"  says  Douglas.  "  What  do 
you  want  me  to  do  for  you  ?"  "  Well,"  says  Tucker, 
"  when  you  get  to  be  President,  all  I  want  you  to  do 
for  me  is  to  pick  some  public  place,  and  put  your  arm 
around  my  neck,  just  as  you  are  doing  now,  and  call 


Leading  Democrats. 


499 


me  Bev.!"     Douglas  was  much  amused,  and  used  to 
relate  the  circumstance  with  great  glee. 

General  Cass  had  a  few  faithful  friends,  and  Henry 
A.  Wise,  of  Virginia,  who  was  a  blatant  Buchanan 
man,  was  not  without  hope  that  he  himself  might  re- 
ceive the  nomination. 

Many  of  the  delegates  to  the  Cincinnati  Convention 
passed  some  time  in  Washington  City.  Massachusetts 
sent  Charles  Gordon 
Greene,  the  veteran 
editor  of  the  Boston 
Post;  Benjamin  F. 
Butler,  then  known  as 
a  smart  Lowell  lawyer, 
an^i  the  old  anti-Ma- 
son, Ben.  F.  Hallet, 
then  United  States  Dis- 
trict Attorney.  Among 
the  Kentuckians  were 
the  gallant  John  C. 
Breckinridge,the  pug- 
nacious Charles  A. 
Wickliffe,  J.  W.  Ste- 
venson, and  T.  C. 
McCreery,  afterward 
Governors  and  Senators,  and  the  courteous  William  C. 
Preston,  afterward  Minister  to  Spain.  From  Loui- 
siana were  Senators  Slidell  and  Benjamin,  prominently 
connected  with  the  Rebellion  a  few  years  later,  and 
Pierre  Soule.  Florida  was  to  be  represented  by  Senator 
Yulee,  of  Israelitish  extraction,  who  in  early  life  spelled 
his  name  L-e-v-i.  Then  there  were  Vallandigham,  of 
Ohio  ;  Captain  Isaiah  Rynders,  of  New  York ;  James 
S.  Green,  of  Missouri ;  James  A.  Bayard,  of  Delaware, 


JAMES  A.   BAYARD 


500  Perley^s   Reminiscences. 

and  other  party  magnates,  who  all  expressed  their 
desire  to  sink  all  personal  grievances  to  secure  victory. 

The  Democrats  met  in  Convention  at  Cincinnati, 
where  the  friends  of  each  candidate  had  their  headquar- 
ters, that  of  Mr.  Douglas  being  graced  by  Dan  Sickles, 
Tom  Hyer,  Isaiah  Rynders,  and  other  New  York  poli- 
ticians, while  at  a  private  house  leased  by  Mr.  S.  M. 
Barlow,  the  claims  of  Buchanan  were  urged  by  Sena- 
tors Bayard,  Benjamin,  Bright,  and  Slidell.  General 
Pierce  had  few  friends  beyond  the  holders  of  Federal 
offices,  and  General  Cass  received  a  cold  support  from 
a  half-dozen  old  friends. 

The  first  two  days  were  occupied  in  settling  the 
claims  of  contestants  to  seats.  The  anti-Benton  delegates 
from  Missouri  were  admitted,  and  the  New  York 
wrangle  was  finally  settled  by  adopting  the  minority 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials,  which  admit- 
ted both  the  "  Hards  "  and  the  "  Softs,"  giving  each 
half  a  vote.  On  the  first  ballot,  Buchanan  had  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  votes,  Pierce  one  hundred  and 
twenty-three,  Douglas  thirty-three,  and  Cass  five.  The 
balloting  was  continued  during  four  days,  when,  on  the 
sixteenth  ballot  (the  name  of  Pierce  having  been  with- 
drawn), Buchanan  received  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  votes,  Douglas  one  hundred  and  twenty-one,  and 
Cass  four  and  a  half.  Mr.  Richardson,  of  Illinois,  then 
withdrew  the  name  of  Mr.  Douglas,  and  Mr.  Buchanan 
was  unanimously  nominated.  The  Convention  then 
balloted  for  a  candidate  for  Vice-President,  and  on  the 
second  ballot  John  C.  Breckinridge  was  nominated. 

The  Native  Americans  and  the  Republicans  flattered 
themselves  that  the  Democratic  party  had  been  reduced 
to  a  mere  association  of  men,  whose  only  aim  was  the 
spoils  of  victory.  Indeed,  Mr.  Lewis  D.  Campbell,  of 


"Non  Comeatibus}'1  501 

Ohio,  asserted  in  a  public  speech  that  "were  President 
Pierce  to  send  out  all  his  force  of  marshals  and  deputy 
marshals  to  find  such  a  party,  each  one  provided  with  a 
national  search-warrant,  they  would  fail  to  discover  the 
fugitive  !  It,  too,  has  departed  !  His  marshals  would 
have  to  make  returns  upon  their  writs  similar  to  that 
of  the  Kentucky  constable.  A  Kentucky  fight  once  oc- 
curred at  a  tavern  on  '  Bar  Grass  !'  One  of  the  com- 
batants broke  a  whisky  bottle  over  the  head  of  his  an- 
tagonist. The  result  was  a  State's  warrant.  The  de- 
fendant fled  through  a  corn-field,  over  the  creek,  into  a 
swamp,  and  there  climbed  a  stump.  Seating  himself 
in  the  fork,  he  drew  his  '  bowie,'  and  as  the  constable 
approached  in  pursuit,  he  addressed  him : 

"  '  Now,  Mr.  Constable,  you  want  to  take  me,  and  I 
give  you  fair  warning  that  if  you  attempt  to  climb  this 
stump,  by  the  Eternal !  I'll  take  you  !'  The  constable, 
who  had  been  about  the  court-house  enough  to  learn 
some  of  the  technical  terms  used  in  returning  writs, 
went  back  to  the  'Squire's  office,  and  indorsed  upon  the 
warrant :  '  Non  est  inventus  !  through  fieldibus,  across 
creekum,  in  swampum,  up  stumpum,  non  comeatibus  !' 
So  it  is  with  the  old  Jackson  Democratic  party — '  non 
comeatibus !' ' 

The  Democratic  party,  however,  was  in  a  better  con- 
dition than  its  opponents  imagined.  President  Pierce 
entered  heartily  into  the  campaign,  Jefferson  Davis 
and  Stephen  A.  Douglas  worked  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
and  Mr.  Buchanan  proved  to  be  a  model  candidate. 
When  his  old  friend,  Mr.  Nahum  Capen,  of  Boston, 
sent  to  him  a  campaign  life  for  his  indorsement  he 
declined,  saying:  "After  reflection  and  consultation, 
I  stated  in  my  letter  of  acceptance  substantially  that  I 
would  make  no  issues  beyond  the  platform,  and  have, 


502  Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

therefore,  avoided  giving  my  sanction  to  any  publication 
containing  opinions  with  which  I  might  be  identi- 
fied, and  prove  unsatisfactory  to  some  portions  of  the 
Union.  I  must  continue  to  stand  on  this  ground." 

The  Governors  of  the  Southern  States  were  satisfied 
with  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  although  the 
leading  secessionists  avowed  their  intention  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  for  organizing  a  rebellion 
which  they  hoped  would  prove  a  revolution.  Officers 
of  the  army  and  navy,  born  at  the  South,  or  who  had 
married  Southern  wives,  were  appealed  to  to  stand  by 
the  States  to  which  they  first  owed  allegiance,  and  ac- 
cessions to  those  willing  to  desert  the  Union  when  their 
States  called  for  their  services  were  announced.  Promi- 
nent among  those  officers  who  intimated  their  intention 
to  serve  Virginia  rather  than  the  Federal  Government 
was  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee.  A  Virginian  by  birth,  he 
had  married  the  only  child  of  George  Washington 
Parke  Custis,  and  when  not  on  duty  away  from  Wash- 
ington he  resided  at  "  Arlington."  On  Sundays  he 
worshiped  in  Christ  Church,  at  Alexandria,  occupying 
the  family  pew  in  which  George  Washington  used  to 
sit. 

The  National  American  Convention  had  met  at 
Philadelphia  on  the  i9th  of  February,  and  (after  an 
exciting  discussion  of  the  slavery  question,  followed 
by  the  withdrawal  of  the  Abolitionists)  nominated  Fill- 
more  and  Donelson.  This  ticket  was  adopted  at  an 
eminently  respectable  convention  of  the  Whig  leaders, 
then  without  followers,  held  at  Baltimore  on  the  iyth  of 
September. 

Some  of  Mr.  Seward's  friends  desired  to  have  him 
nominated  by  the  Republicans  at  their  National  Con- 
vention, to  be  held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  lyth  of  June, 


Washington^  Church. 


5°3 


"but  Thurlow  Weed  saw  that  he  could  not  receive  as 
many  votes  as  were  cast  for  Scott  in  1852,  and  advo- 
cated the  nomination  of  John  C.  Fremont,  the  "  Path- 


CHRIST  CHURCH  AT  ALEXANDRIA,  AND   WASHINGTON'S   PEW. 

finder,"  whose  young  and  pretty  daughter  might  be 
seen  every  pleasant  afternoon  riding  on  horseback  on 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  with  her  old  grandfather,  Colo- 
nel Thomas  H.  Benton.  "  Old  Blair,  of  the  Globe}* 


5°4 


Percy's  Reminiscences. 


and  his  two  sons,  Preston  King,  of  New  York,  John 
Van  Bureii,  and  David  Wilrnot,  with  other  distin- 
guished and  disgruntled  Democrats,  with  several  clever 
young  journalists,  created  a  great  enthusiasm  for  Colo- 
nel Fremont.  Mr.  Bailey,  of  the  Washington  Era, 
with  a  few  old  Whigs,  advocated  the  nomination  of 
Judge  McLean,  while  Burlingame,  at  the  head  of  the 
u  Young  America,"  or  Know  Nothing  branch  of  the 

party,  endeavored  to 
get  up  enthusiasm  for 
Mr.  Speaker  Banks, 
"the  bobbin-boy." 

When  the  Republi- 
can Convention  met 
there  were  self-styled 
delegates  from  Dela- 
ware,Kentucky,  Mary- 
land, and  Virginia,  but 
it  was,  in  fact,  a  con- 
vention of  nearly  a 
thousand  delegates 
from  the  free  States. 
An  informal  ballot 
showed  that  Fremont 
had  a  large  majority 
and  he  was  unanimously  nominated.  Mr.  Dayton,  of 
New  Jersey,  was  nominated  as  Vice-President,  defeating 
Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Charles  Sum- 
ner,  and  David  Wilmot. 

The  Republicans  endeavored  to  revive  the  excite- 
ments of  the  Log  Cabin  campaign,  and  a  considerable 
zeal  was  manifested  by  the  Americans,  the  Democrats, 
and  the  Whigs,  but  Mr.  Buchanan  received  the  elec- 
toral votes  of  five  large  free  States,  and  of  every  South- 


ISAAC    TOUCEY 


"Buck  and  Breck"  Chosen.  505 

ern  State  with  the  exception  of  Maryland,  which  gave 
its  vote  for  Mr.  Fillmore.  Colonel  Fremont  received 
the  vote  of  every  Northern  State  with  the  exception  of 
California,  Illinois,  Indiana,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. Mr.  Buchanan  was  astonished  at  the  large 
vote  which  he  had  received,  and  he  regarded  this  as  a 
proof  that  what  he  called  "  Abolition  fanaticism  "  had 
at  last  been  checked. 

The  electoral  votes  for  President  and  Vice-President 
were  counted,  in  accordance  with  the  established  cus- 
tom, in  the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  Senators  went  there  in  procession,  advanced  up 
the  middle  aisle,  and  took  seats  provided  for  them  in 
the  area  in  front  of  the  Speaker's  chair,  the  Represen- 
tatives receiving  them  "  standing  and  in  silence."  Mr. 
Speaker  Banks  handed,  his  "  gavel "  to  Judge  Mason, 
President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore,  and  the  venerable 
old  fogies  took  arm-chairs  in  the  area  before  the  table. 
Senator  Bigler,  of  Pennsylvania,  with  Messrs.  Jones, 
of  Tennessee,  and  Howard,  of  Ohio,  duly  appointed 
tellers,  then  took  possession  of  the  clerk's  desk,  and 
the  proceedings  commenced.  State  by  State,  the  Chair- 
man took  the  packages,  broke  the  seals,  and  handed 
the  documents  to  the  tellers,  by  one  of  whom  they 
were  read.  Maine  led  off  with  "  Fremont  and  Day- 
ton," and  for  awhile  it  was  all  that  way.  But  the 
Pathfinder  stuck  in  the  sands  of  New  Jersey,  and  then 
"  Old  Buck  "  began  to  make  a  showing,  varied  by  the 
Maryland  vote  for  Millard  Fillmore.  Everything  went 
along  "  beautiful,"  and  the  vote  had  been  announced  by 
the  tellers,  when  objection  was  made  to  the  vote  of  Wis- 
consin, which  was  one  day  late,  owing  to  a  snow  storm. 

A  regular  scene  of  confusion  ensued,  in  which  their 
high  mightinesses,  the  Senators,  became  intensely 


506  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

aroused.  The  great  Michigander  growled  like  an  angry 
bear,  and  old  Judge  Butler  became  terribly  excited,  his 
long  hair  standing  out  in  every  direction,  like  that  of  a 
doll  charged  with  electric  fluid.  At  last  he  led  the  van, 
and  the  Senators  withdrew  in  great  dudgeon,  to  cool  off 
as  they  passed  through  the  Rotunda.  In  due  time 
the}'-  returned,  however,  and  after  a  little  talk  the  vote 
was  officially  announced.  The  Senate  then  retired,  the 
House  adjourned,  and  the  country  turned  its  expectant 
eyes  toward  the  coming  Administration. 


WINFIELD  SCOTT  was  born  at  Petersburg,  Virginia,  June  i^th,  1786;  received  a  liberal  educa- 
tion; was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  practiced  a  few  years;  entered  the  army  in  1808  as  a  captain 
of  light  artillery  ;  commanded  on  the  northern  frontier  and  won  the  battle  of  Chippewa  and  Lundy  'a 
Lane  in  1814;  defeated  Black  Hawk  in  1812  ;  commanded  in  the  Mexican  campaign,  which  resulted 
in  the  capture  of  the  City  of  Mexico  in  September,  1847;  was  defeated  as  the  Whig  candidate  for 
President  in  1852 ;  was  commissioned  as  Lieutenant-General  in  1855,  and  died  at  New  York,  May 
agth,  1866. 


CHAPTER   XLI. 

MISS   LANE   IN   THE  WHITE   HOUSE. 

PRESIDENT-ELECT  BUCHANAN — MISS  HARRIET  LANE — THE  NEW  CABI- 
NET AND  THE  MESSAGE— THE  NEWSPAPER  ORGANS— INAUGURATION 
OP  PRESIDENT  BUCHANAN — THE  INAUGURATION  BALL — THE  DRED 
SCOTT  DECISION — THE  MINORITY  DECISION. 

AFTER  the  election  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  his  home 
at  Lancaster,  "  Wheatland,"  was  a  political 
Mecca,  to  which  leading  Democrats  from  all 
sections  made  pilgrimages.  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  was 
experienced  in  public  affairs,  appointed  his  nephew, 
Mr.  J.  Buchanan  Henry,  a  well-informed  young  gentle- 
man, recently  admitted  to  the  Philadelphia  bar,  as  his 
private  secretary,  and  made  him  indorse  brief  state- 
ments of  their  contents  on  each  of  the  numerous  letters 
of  recommendation  for  office  which  he  received. 

A  few  weeks  before  his  inauguration,  Mr.  Buchanan 
visited  Washington,  that  he  might  confer  with  his 
leading  political  friends.  He  entertained  a  large  party 
of  them  at  dinner  at  the  National  Hotel,  after  which 
nearly  all  of  those  present  suffered  from  the  effects  of 
poison  taken  into  their  systems  from  an  impure  water 
supply,  and  some  of  them  never  recovered. 

Mr.  Buchanan  was  accompanied,  when  he  left  his 
home  to  be  inaugurated,  by  Miss  Harriet  Lane,  his 
niece,  a  graceful  blonde  with  auburn  hair  and  violet 
eyes,  who  had  passed  a  season  in  London  when  her 
uncle  was  the  American  Minister  there,  and  who  was 

507 


5o8 


Perley's  Reminiscences. 


as  discreet  as  she  was  handsome,  amiable,  and  agree- 
able. With  her,  to  aid  in  keeping  house  in  the 
Executive  Mansion,  was  "  Miss  Hetty  "  Parker,  who 
had  for  years  presided  over  Mr.  Buchanan's  bach- 
elor's-hall,  and  his  private  secretary,  Mr.  J.  Buchanan 
Henry. 

On  his  arrival  at  Washington,  Mr.  Buchanan  was 
taken  to  a  suite  of  rooms  prepared  for  him  at  the 
National  Hotel,  but  he  soon  after  went  to  the  house 


THE  CORCORAN   GALLERY  OF  ART. 


of  Mr.  W.  W.  Corcoran,  the  generous  founder  of  the 
Corcoran  Gallery  of  Art,  where  he  remained  until  his 
inauguration.  On  the  morning  after  his  arrival,  the 
National  Intelligencer  gave  the  following  as  the  proba- 
ble composition  of  his  Cabinet :  Secretary  of  State, 
Lewis  Cass,  of  Michigan  ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia ;  Secretary  of  War,  John  B. 
Floyd,  of  Virginia ;  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Aaron  V. 
Brown,  of  Tennessee  ;  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  J. 
Thompson,  of  Mississippi ;  Postmaster-General,  J. 


Starting  the  Administration. 


509 


Glancy  Jones,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Attorney-General, 
Isaac  Toucey,  of  Connecticut.  It  was  also  said  that 
Mr.  Jones  had  declined,  and  that  the  position  of  Post- 
master-General had  been  tendered  to  W.  C.  Alexander, 
of  New  Jersey.  This  programme,  arranged  by  Mr. 
Buchanan  before  he  had  left  his  home,  was  but  slightly 
changed.  Mr.  Toucey  was  made  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  Aaron  V.  Brown,  Postmaster-General,  and  Jere 
Black  was  brought  in  as  Attorney-General.  But  these 


PATENT  OFFICE  AND  INTERIOR  DEPARTMENT. 

carefully  made  arrangements  failed  to  beget  confidence. 
Republicans  were  defiant,  as  were  men  of  the  domi- 
nant party,  and  everywhere  were  apprehensions. 

The  inaugural  message  had  been  written  at  Wheat- 
land,  where  Mr.  J.  Buchanan  Henry  had  copied  Mr. 
Buchanan's  drafts  and  re-copied  them  with  alterations 
and  amendments,  until  the  document  was  satisfactory. 
It  met  the  approval  of  the  selected  Cabinet  when  read 
to  them  at  Washington,  the  only  change  being  the  in- 


Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

sertion  of  a  clause  shadowing  the  forthcoming  Dred 
Scott  decision  by  the  Supreme  Court  as  one  that  would 
dispose  of  a  vexed  and  troublesome  topic  by  the  high- 
est authority. 

It  was  also  arranged  that  Mr.  Buchanan's  friend, 
Mr.  John  Appleton,  who  had  represented  the  Portland 
district  in  Congress,  and  had  served  as  Minister  to  Bo- 
livia and  as  Secretary  of  Legation  at  London,  should  edit 
the  Washington  Union,  which  was  to  be  the  "  organ  " 


BUREAU  OF  ENGRAVING  AND   PRINTING  BUILDING. 

of  the  new  Administration.  Mr.  Appleton's  salary, 
with  the  other  expenses  of  the  paper  above  its  receipts, 
were  to  be  paid  by  Mr.  Cornelius  Wendell,  as  a  consid- 
eration for  the  printing  and  binding  for  the  Executive 
Departments. 

Major  Heiss,  who  had  made  sixty  thousand  dollars 
on  the  public  printing,  and  then  lost  forty  thousand 
dollars  in  publishing  the  New  Orleans  Delta,  estab- 
lished a  paper  called  The  States,  which  was  to  be  the 
organ  of  the  filibusters  and  the  secessionists.  He  was 


The  Gathering  Guests.  511 

aided  by  Major  Harris,  a  son-in-law  of  General  Arm- 
strong, who  had  made  his  fortune  while  Senate  Printer, 
other  parties  doing  the  work  for  about  half  of  what 
was  paid  for  it.  Mr.  Henri  Watterson,  who  had  been 
born  at  Washington,  while  his  father  represented  a 
Tennessee  district  in  the  House,  commenced  his  bril- 
liant editorial  career  as  a  reporter  on  The  States. 

At  midnight  on  the  third  of  March,  the  fine  band  of 
P.  S.  Gilmore,  which  had  accompanied  the  Charles- 
town  City  Guard  to  Washington,  formed  in  front  of 
Mr.  Corcoran's  house,  beneath  the  windows  of  the 
chamber  occupied  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  and  played  "  Hail 
to  the  Chief,"  followed  by  the  "  Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner "  and  "  Hail  Columbia."  The  city  was  filled  that 
night  with  strangers,  many  of  whom  could  not  find 
sleeping-places.  Every  hotel  was  crammed,  every 
boarding-house  was  crowded,  private  houses  were  full, 
and  even  the  circus  tent  was  turned  into  a  dormitory 
at  fifty  cents  a  head. 

Congress  was  in  session  all  night,  and  the  Capitol 
was  crowded.  Just  prior  to  the  final  adjournment  of 
the  House,  the  newspaper  correspondents,  who  had  re- 
ceived many  courtesies  from  Mr.  Speaker  Banks,  united 
in  writing  him  a  letter  of  thanks.  In  his  reply  he. 
said :  "The  industry  and  early  intelligence  which 
gave  value  to  your  labors  are  often  the  subject  of  com- 
mendation, and  to  this  I  am  happy  to  add  that,  so  far 
as  I  am  able  to  j  udge,  you  have  been  guided  as  much  by 
a  desire  to  do  justice  to  individuals  as  to  promote  the 
public  weal." 

The  sun  rose  in  a  fog  and  was  greeted  by  a  salute 
from  the  Navy  Yard  and  the  Arsenal,  while  the  rattling 
notes  of  the  "  reveille  "  were  heard  on  all  sides,  and 
hundreds  of  large  American  flags,  were  displayed  from 


Per iey 's  Reminiscences. 

public  and  private  buildings.  The  streets  wrere  filled 
with  soldiers,  firemen,  badge-bedecked  politicians,  and 
delighted  negroes.  Well-mounted  staff  officers  and 
marshals  galloped  to  and  fro,  directing  'military  and 
civic  organizations  to  their  positions  in  the  procession. 


f 


GENERAL  QUITMAN. 

The  departments  were  closed,  and  the  clerks  were 
anxiously  discussing  the  probability  of  a  rotation  in 
office  which  would  force  them  to  seek  other  employ- 
ment. 

As  noon  approached,  carriages  conveyed  the  privi- 


The  Inaugural  Procession.  513 

leged  few  to  the  Capitol,  where,  at  "  high  twelve,"  the 
gallant  and  gifted  John  C.  Breckinridge  solemnly 
swore  to  protect  and  defend  the  Constitution.  He  then 
administered  the  same  oath  to  Jefferson  Davis  and 
other  new  Senators. 

Meanwhile  that  gallant  Mexican  War  veteran,  Gen- 
eral Quitman,  who  commanded  the  military,  had  been 
formally  received,  and  had  given  the  word  "  March !" 
Colonel  W.  W.  Selden,  the  Chief  Marshal,  had  at  least 
thirty  gentlemen  as  aides,  all  finely  mounted  and 
handsomely  attired,  with  uniform  sashes  and  saddle- 
cloths, forming  a  gallant  troop.  At  the  head  of  the 
•column  was  the  Light  Battery  K,  of  the  First  Regular 
Artillery,  commanded  by  Major  William  H.  French. 
Next  came  a  battalion  of  marines,  headed  by  the  full 
Marine  Band,  in  their  showy  scarlet  uniforms.  Twenty- 
four  companies  of  volunteer  militia  followed,  promi- 
nent among  them  the  Albany  Burgess  Corps,  with 
Dodworth's  Band ;  the  Charlestown  City  Guard,  with 
Gilmore's  Band ;  the  Lancaster  Fencibles  ;  the  Willard 
Guard,  from  Auburn,  New  York ;  the  Law  Grays,  and 
a  German  Rifle  Company,  from  Baltimore. 

Following  the  escort,  in  an  open  carriage  drawn  by 
two  fine  gray  horses,  sat  President  Pierce  and  Presi- 
dent-elect Buchanan.  Flowers  were  thrown  into  the 
carriage  as  it  passed  along,  and  cheers  drowned  the 
music  of  the  bands.  The  carriage  was  followed  by 
political  clubs  from  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
and  Lancaster,  each  having  its  band  and  banners.  The 
Washington  Democratic  Association  had  a  decorated 
car,  drawn  by  six  horses,  from  which  rose  a  liberty 
pole  seventy  feet  high,  carrying  a  large  American  flag. 
This  and  a  full-rigged  miniature  ship-of-war  were 
gotten  up  at  the  Washington  Navy  Yard. 

33 


Per  ley's  Reminiscences. 

On  reaching  the  Capitol,  Mr.  Buchanan  was  escorted 
to  the  Senate  Chamber.  Mr.  Breckinridge  had  been 
sworn  in  as  Vice-President,  and  a  procession  was  soon 
formed  with  him  at  its  head,  which  moved  to  the  plat- 


JAMES   BUCHANAN. 

form  erected  in  the  usual  place  over  the  steps  of  the 
eastern  portico.  As  he  came  out,  dressed  with  his 
habitual  precision  in  a  suit  of  black,  and  towering 
above  the  surrounding  throng,  the  thoughtful  gravity 
of  his  features  hushed  the  impatient  crowd.  There 


The  Bachelor  President.  515 

was  a  second  of  intense  quiet,  then  cheer  after  cheer 
rent  the  air.  Soon  he  was  surrounded  by  the  mag- 
nates of  the  land,  civil,  military,  and  naval,  with  the 
Diplomatic  Corps  and  a  number  of  elegantly  dressed 
ladies.  Advancing  to  the  front  of  the  platform,  he 
read  his  inaugural  address  from  manuscript  in  a  clear, 
distinct  tone,  and  when  he  had  concluded,  reverentially 
took  the  oath  of  office,  which,  as  with  several  of  his 
predecessors,  was  administered  by  the  venerable  Chief 
Justice  Taney.  The  cheers  of  the  multitude  were 


MAIN   ENTRANCE  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE  IN   1857. 

echoed  by  a  President's  salute,  fired  by  the  Light 
Artillery  near  by,  and  repeated  at  the  Navy  Yard  and 
at  the  Arsenal.  The  procession  was  then  re-formed 
and  escorted  the  President  to  the  White  House,  where 
he  held  an  impromptu  reception. 

As  there  was  no  hall  in  Washington  large  enough 
to  contain  more  than  six  hundred  people,  a  temporary 
annex  to  the  City  Hall  was  erected  by  the  managers 
of  the  Inauguration  Ball.  The  interior  was  decorated 
with  the  flags  of  all  nations,  and  the  ceiling  was  of 


516  Per ley^s  Reminiscences. 

white  cloth,  studded  with  golden  stars,  which  twinkled 
as  they  were  moved  in  unison  with  the  measure  of  the 
dancers  below,  and  reflected  the  blaze  of  light  from 
large  gas  chandeliers. 

Mr.  Buchanan  arrived  about  eleven  o'clock,  accom- 
panied by  Miss  Lane,  and  was  received  by  Major  Ma- 
gruder,  who  very  discreetly  spared  him  the  infliction 
of  a  speech.  Miss  Lane  wore  a  white  dress  trimmed 
with  artificial  flowers,  similar  to  those  which  orna- 
mented her  hair,  and  clasping  her  throat  was  a  neck- 
lace of  many  strands  of  sea  pearls.  She  was  escorted 
by  Senator  Jones  and  the  venerable  General  Jessup,  in 
full  uniform. 

The  most  oeautifui  among  the  many  ladies  present 
was  the  wrife  of  Senator  Douglas,  who  was  dressed  in 
bridal  white,  with  a  cluster  of  orange-blossoms  on  her 
classically  formed  head.  Senators  Cameron  and  Dixon, 
with  their  wives,  were  the  only  Republican  members  of 
the  upper  house  present,  but  there  was  no  lack  of 
those  from  sunnier  climes,  with  their  ladies,  among 
whom  Mrs.  Slidell,  who  was  something  of  an  oracle  in 
political  circles,  was  conspicuous.  Mrs.  Senator  Thomp- 
son, of  New  Jersey,  dressed  in  white,  with  silver  orna- 
ments, was  much  admired.  The  ladies  of  the  Diplo- 
matic Corps  were  elegantly  attired,  especially  Madame 
de  Sartiges,  the  wife  of  the  French  Minister.  Presi- 
dent Buchanan  and  suite  were  first  admitted,  with  the 
Committee,  to  the  supper-table.  Dancing  was  kept  up 
until  daylight,  and  although  the  consumption  of 
punch,  wines,  and  liquors  was  great,  there  were  no 
signs  of  intoxication. 

Two  days  after  Mr.  Buchanan  was  inaugurated 
Chief  Justice  Taney,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  gave  a  de- 
cision in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  in  which  he  virtually  de- 


Dred  Scott.  517 

clared  that  "  negroes  have  no  rights  which  white  men 
are  bound  to  respect. "  Dred  Scott  had  been  a  slave  in 
Missouri,  belonging  to  Dr.  Emerson,  a  surgeon  in  the 
United  States  Army,  who  had  taken  him,  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  official  duties,  to  Illinois,  and  thence 
to  Minnesota.  Returning  with  him  to  Missouri,  Dred 
Scott  was  whipped,  and  claiming  that  he  had  secured 
his  freedom  by  a  residence  in  a  free  State  and  a  free 
Territory,  he  brought  suit  for  assault  and  battery. 
Meanwhile  Dr.  Bmerson  died,  leaving  to  his  widow 
and  to  his  only  daughter  a  considerable  slave  property, 
among  them  Dred  Scott.  Mrs.  Emerson  afterward 
married  Dr.  Calvin  C.  Chaffee,  who  came  into  Con- 
gress on  the  Know-Nothing  wave  and  afterward  be- 
came a  Republican.  The  suit  brought  by  Dred  Scott 
was  defended  by  the  administrator  of  the  Emerson 
estate,  on  behalf  and  with  the  consent  of  the  wife  of 
Dr.  Chaffee  and  her  daughter,  who  were  the  heirs-at- 
law.  The  final  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  that 
Dred  Scott  was  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  and 
could  not  sue  in  the  United  States  Court  remanded 
him  and  his  family  to  the  chattelhood  of  Mrs.  Chaffee. 
This  decision  was  a  great,  victory  for  the  South,  as  it 
not  only  reduced  all  persons  of  African  descent  to  a 
level  with  inanimate  property,  but  asserted  that  a 
slave-holder  could  go  to  any  part  of  the  country,  tak- 
ing his  slaves  and  preserving  his  ownership  in  them. 

Mr.  Justice  B.  R.  Curtis,  who  had  been  appointed  by 
President  Fillmore  on  the  recommendation  of  Daniel 
Webster,  dissented.  He  furnished  a  copy  of  his  dis- 
senting opinion  for  publication  in  the  newspapers,  but 
the  majority  opinion  was  not  forthcoming,  and  the 
clerk  of  the  court  said  that  the  Chief  Justice  had  for- 
bidden its  delivery.  Shortly  afterward,  Judge  Curtis, 


518  Per iey 's  Reminiscences. 

having  heard  that  extensive  alterations  had  been  made 
in  the  majority  opinion,  sent  from  Boston  to  Washing- 
ton, being  himself  then  in  Massachusetts,  for  a  copy. 
He  was  refused.  A  long  and  bitter  correspondence 
ensued  between  him  and  Judge  Taney.  He  claimed 
the  right,  which  he  undoubtedly  possessed,  to  consult 
the  record  for  the  further  discharge  of  his  official 
duties.  Judge  Taney  denied  the  right,  and  obtained 
an  order  of  court  forbidding  anybody  to  see  the  opin- 
ion before  its  official  publication  in  the  Reports.  The 
clerk  of  the  court  finally  offered  to  supply  manuscript 
copies  of  the  decision  at  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars each,  but  the  indefatigable  Cornelius  Wendell  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  a  copy  and  printed  a  large  edition 
in  pamphlet  form  for  gratuitous  distribution. 


JOHN  BUCHANAN  FLOYD  was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Va.,  in  1805  ;  was  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, 1850-1853 ;  was  Secretary  of  War  under  President  Buchanan,  1857-1860-  was  a  Confederate 
brigadier-general,  1861-1863  ;  died  at  Abingdon,  Va.,  August  z6th,  1863. 


CHAPTER  XLIL 

DIPLOMACY    SOCIETY,   AND   CIVIL   SERVICE. 

FOREIGN  RELATIONS — LORD  NAPIER,  THE  BRITISH  MINISTER — SIR  WIL- 
LIAM GORE  OUSELEY — SOCIETY  IN  WASHINGTON— A  FASHIONABLE 
PRETENDER— CIVIL  SERVICE — OFFICE  SEEKING— CHOATE'S  HAND- 
WRITING— THE  GOVERNORS  OF  KANSAS. 

PRESIDENT  BUCHANAN  was  virtually  his 
own  Secretary  of  State,  although  he  had  cour- 
teously placed  his  defeated  rival,  General  Cass, 
at  the  head  of  the  State  Department.  Nearly  all  of 
the  important  diplomatic  correspondence,  however,  was 
dictated  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  had,  like  Jefferson  and 
John  Quincy  Adams,  served  as  Secretary  of  State,  and 
who  was  thoroughly  versed  in  foreign  relations.  Gen- 
eral Thomas,  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  was 
soon  dismissed,  and  Mr.  John  Appleton  was  persuaded 
to  leave  the  editorial  "chair  of  the  Washington  Union 
and  take  his  place. 

The  British  Government,  which  had  pleasant  per- 
sonal recollections  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  promptly  sent 
Lord  Napier  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  no  successor 
to  the  dismissed  Sir  John  Crampton  having  been 
accredited  during  the  Administration  of  President 
Pierce.  The  new  Minister  was  a  Scotchman  by  birth, 
slender  in  figure,  with  light  hair  and  blue  eyes,  and 
thoroughly  trained  in  British  diplomacy.  He  was  an 
•especial  protege  of  Lord  Palmerston,  and  Lord  Claren- 


520  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

don  Had  placed  the  olive-branch,  in  his  hand  with  his 
instructions.  The  press  of  England  proclaimed  that 
he  had  instructions  to  render  himself  acceptable  to  the 
Government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and 
to  do  all  in  his  power  to  promote  kind  feelings  between 
the  two  countries.  Soon  after  he  landed  at  New  York 
he  made  a  speech  at  the  annual  dinner  of  the  St. 
George's  Society,  in  which  he  repudiated  the  previous, 
distrustful  and  vexatious  policy  of  the  British  Foreign 
Office  toward  the  United  States,  and  declared  that  the 
interests  of  the  two  countries  were  so  completely  iden- 
tified  that  their  policy  should  never  be  at  variance. 

The  claim  by  Great  Britain  of  the  right  to  search 
vessels  belonging  to  the  United  States  which  her  naval 
officers  might  suspect  to  be  slave-traders,  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  British  protectorate  over  the  Mosquito- 
coast,  in  defiance  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  were  knotty 
questions.  Lord  Napier,  evidently,  was  not  capable  of 
conducting  the  negotiations  on  them  in  a  manner  sat- 
isfactory to  Lord  Palmerston,  who  sent  to  Washington 
as  his  adviser  Sir  William  Gore  Ouseley,  a  veteran  dip- 
lomat. He  was  not  in  any  way  accredited  to  the 
United  States  Government,  but  was  named  Special 
Minister  to  Central  America,  and  stopped  at  Washing- 
ton on  his  way  there,  renting  the  Madison  House,  on 
Lafayette  Square,  and  entertaining  with  great  liber- 
ality. 

Sir  William  Gore  Ouseley,  who  was  a  Knight  Com- 
mander of  the  Bath,  had  resided  at  Washington  as  an 
attache  to  the  British  Legation  forty  years  previously, 
while  Mr.  Vaughan  was  Minister,  and  had  then  en- 
tered personally  into  a  treaty  of  permanent  peace  and 
amity  with  the  United  States  by  marrying  the  daugh- 
ter of  Governor  Van  Ness,  of  Vermont.  Miss  Van 


Leading  Society.  521 

Ness  was  a  young  lady  of  great  beauty,  residing  at  the 
metropolis  with  her  uncle,  General  Van  Ness,  at  one 
time  the  Mayor  of  Washington.  Sir  William  after- 
ward visited  Persia  as  the  historian  of  the  embassy  of 
his  uncle,  Sir  Gore  Ouseley,  and  his  published  work 
contained  much  new  information  in  relation  to  that 
then  almost  unknown  portion  of  the  world.  He  had 
afterward  been  connected  with  the  British  Legations  in 
Spain,  Brazil,  and  Buenos  Ayres,  and  his  acquaintance 
with  the  Spanish  race,  language,  and  literature  was 
probably  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  that  of  any  other 
Englishman.  He  was  the  author  of  a  valuable  work 
on  the  United  States,  and  also  of  an  expensive  and 
illustrated  volume  on  the  scenery  of  Brazil. 

It  was  doubtless  due  to  considerations  such  as  these,, 
the  special  acquaintanceship  of  this  veteran  diplomat 
with  the  character,  circumstances,  and  views  of  the 
several  nationalities  involved  in  the  difficulties  to  be 
arranged,  which  had  prevailed  over  mere  political  affin- 
ities and  induced  his  selection  by  Lord  Palmers  ton  for 
the  errand  on  which  he  came  to  Washington.  His 
personal  relations  with  Lord  Napier  were  very  friendly, 
and  Mr.  Buchanan  was  the  friend  of  both,  having 
known  Lady  Ouseley  before  her  marriage.  For  some 
months  the  Ouseleys  were  prominent  in  Washington 
society.  Lady  Ouseley  frequently  had  the  honor  of 
being  escorted  by  the  President  in  her  afternoon  walks, 
sometimes  attended  by  her  daughter,  who  wore  the  first 
crimson  balmoral  petticoat  seen  in  Washington.  When 
President  Buchanan  and  Miss  Lane  took  their  summer 
flight  for  Bedford  Springs,  the  Ouseleys  were  their 
traveling  companions,  sharing  their  private  table,  and 
their  entertainments  at  Washington  were  numerous 
and  expensive. 


522 


Per  ley?  s  Reminiscences. 


At  one  of  these,  Lady  Ouseley  wore  a  rich,  blue  bro- 
cade trimmed  with  Honiton  lace,  with  a  wreath  of  blue 
flowers  upon  her  hair,  fastened  at  each  side  by  a  dia- 
mond brooch ;  Miss  Lane,  the  President's  niece,  wore  a 
dress  of  black  tulle,  ornamented  with  bunches  of  gold 
leaves,  and  a  head-dress  of  gold  grapes  ;  Miss  Cass,  the 
stately  daughter  of  the  Premier  of  the  Administration, 
was  magnificently  attired  in  pearl-colored  silk,  with 

point-lace  flounces ,  b  ut 
wore  no  jewelry  of  any 
kind;  Mrs.  Brown,  the 
wife  of  the  Postmaster- 
General,  wore  a  rich 
pink  silk  dress,  with 
pink  roses  in  her  hair ; 
Mrs.  Thompson,  the 
wife  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  wore  a 
pink  silk  dress  with 
lace  flounces,  and  a 
head-dress  of  pink 
flowers;  Madame  Sar- 
tiges,  the  wife  of  the 
French  Minister,  wore 
a  rich  chene  silk,  and 
was  accompanied  with  her  niece,  dressed  in  pink  tarla- 
tan ;  Madame  Stoeckl,  the  wife  of  the  Russian  Minister, 
looked  as  stately  as  a  queen  and  beautiful  as  a  Hebe 
in  a  dress  of  white  silk,  with  black  lace  flounces,  cherry- 
colored  flowers,  and  gold  beads  ;  Miss  Schambaugh,  of 
Philadelphia,  who  was  called  the  handsomest  woman  in 
the  United  States,,  wore  a  white-flounced  tarlatan  dress 
trimmed  with  festoons  of  dark  chenille,  with  a  head- 
dress of  red  japonicas  ;  Mrs.  Pendleton,  the  wife  of  the 


MISS  HARRIET  LANE. 


How  they  Dressed. 


523 


Representative   from  the  Cincinnati    District,  wore  a 

white  silk  skirt  with  a  blue  tunic  trimmed  with  bright 

colors ;   Mrs.   McQueen,  the  wife  of  a  South  Carolina 

Representative,  wore  a  rich  black   velvet,    and    Mrs. 

Boyce,   from  the  same  State,   wore  a  lilac  silk  dress 

trimmed  with  black  illusion ;  Mrs.  Sickles,  wife  of  the 

Representative  from  New  York,  wore  a  blue  silk  dress, 

with  rich  point  lace  flowers,  and  was  accompanied  by 

her  mother,  who  wore 

a      lavender    brocade 

dress,  woven  with  gold 

and  silver  flowers,  and 

Miss      Woodbury,     a 

daughter  of    the  late 

Judge  Woodbury ,wore 

a  black  tarlatan  dress 

over  black  silk,  with 

a   head-dress    of    gilt 

beads. 

Among  the  gentle- 
men present  were  Lord 
Napier,  Edward  Eve- 
rett, Secretary  Thomp- 
son, Senator  Mason, 
Representatives  Keitt, 
Miles,  Boyce,  McQueen,  Clingman,  and  Ward;  Cap- 
tains Ringgold  and  Goldsborough,  of  the  navy;  Gen- 
eral Harney  and  Colonel  Hardee,  of  the  army,  and  a 
number  of  others. 

The  commencement  of  Mr..  Buchanan's  Administra- 
tion was  distinguished  by  the  number  of  social  enter- 
tainments given  in  Washington.  It  was  then  as  in 
Paris  just  before  the  Revolution  of  1830,  when  Talley- 
rand said  to  the  crafty  Louis  Philippe,  at  one  of  his 


SECRETARY  J.  THOMPSON. 


524  Per ley^ s  Reminiscences. 

Palais  Royal  balls :  "  We  are  dancing  on  a  volcano."1 
The  hidden  fires  of  coming  revolution  were  smoldering 
at  the  Capitol ;  but  in  the  drawing-rooms  of  the  me- 
tropolis the  Topeka  Guelphs  cordially  fraternized  with 
the  Lecompton  Ghibellines  night  after  night,  very  much 
as  the  lawyers  of  Western  circuits  who,  after  having 
abused  each  other  all  day  in  bad  Bnglish,  met  at  night 
in  the  judge's  room  to  indulge  in  libations  of  bad  liquor. 
Even  when  Lent  came,  instead  of  .going  to  church,  in 
obedience  to  the  chimes  of  consecrated  bells,  society 
kept  on  with  its  entertainments. 

Among  the  most  prominent  houses  were  those  of  the 
Postmaster-General,  Mr.  Aaron  V.  Brown,  whose  wife 
was  assisted  by  the  daughter  of  her  first  marriage,  Miss 
Narcissa  Sanders.  At  Secretary  Thompson's  a  full- 
length  portrait  of  "  Old  Hickory,"  by  Sully,  kept  watch 
and  ward  of  the  refreshment  table.  The  connected 
houses  occupied  by  Secretary  Cass,  afterward  the  Ar- 
lington Hotel,  were  adorned  with  many  rare  works  of 
art,  brought  by  him  from  the  Old  World.  Senators 
Gwin,  of  California,  Thompson,  of  New  Jersey,  and 
Clay,  of  Alabama,  with  Governor  Aiken,  of  South 
Carolina,  also  entertained  frequently  and  generously. 
At  the  supper-tables  wild  turkeys,  prairie-hens,  par- 
tridges, quails,  reed  birds,  chicken  and  lobster  salads, 
terrapin,  oysters,  ice-creams  and  confectionery  were 
furnished  in  profusion,  while  champagne,  sherry,  and 
punch  were  always  abundant. 

Among  choice  bits  of  scandal  then  afloat  was  one 
at  the  expense  of  a  lady  who  prided  herself  on  the 
exclusiveness  of  the  society  which  graced  her  salons. 
A  double-distilled-F.-F.-V.,  no  one  could  obtain  invi- 
tations to  her  parties  whose  ecusson  did  not  bear  the 
quartering  of  some  old  family,  and  thus  these  enter- 


A   Gallant  Cook. 


525 


taiuments  were  accused  of  resembling  the  tournaments 
of  ancient  times,  to  which  the  guests  were  led,  not  from 
any  prospect  of  amusement,  but  merely  to  prove  their 
right  to  ennuyer  themselves  en  bonne  compagnie.  For- 
eigners, however,  were  always  welcome,  and  one  of  the 
"  pets,"  a  romantic  looking  young  Frenchman,  who 
was  quite  handsome  and  made  a  great  sensation  in 
fashionable  society,  avoided  the  Legation  as  represen- 
ting a  usurper,  and 
therefore  quite  un- 
worthy the  atten- 
tion of  one  like 
himself,  of  the 
"vieille  roche." 
The  young  man, 
enveloping  himself 
somewhat  in  mys- 
tery, assumed  the 
dignity  of  Louis 
Quatorze  in  his 
earlier  days,  and 
his  decisions  on  all 
fashionable  mat- 
ters were  law. 
Where  he  lived  no 
one  exactly  knew, 
as  his  letters  were  left  in  Willard's  card-basket,  but 
his  aristocratic  protector  persuaded  Gautier  to  let  her 
look  at  the  furnaces  of  his  restaurant-kitchen,  and 
there — must  it  be  said? — she  found  M.  le  Compte,  in 
white  apron  and  paper  cap,  constructing  a  mayonnaise. 
"  This  young  man  is  my  best  cook,"  said  Gautier,  but 
the  lady  did  not  wait  to  receive  his  salutations. 

The  wild  hunt  after  office  was  kept  up  during  the 


A  SURPRISING  DISCOVERY. 


AN  ASSEMBLY  IN  BUCHANAN'S  TERM. 


Bad  Penmanship. 


527 


summer  and  fall  after  Mr.  Buchanan's  inauguration, 
fortunate  men  occasionally  drawing  place-prizes  in  the 
Government  lottery,  One  of  the  best  jokes  about 
applicants  for  office  was  told  at  the  expense  of  a  Bos- 
tonian,  who  presented,  among  other  papers,  a  copy  of 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Buchanan  from  Rufus  Choate,  with  a 
note  stating  that  he  sent  a  copy  because  he  knew  that 
the  President  could  never  decipher  the  original,  and  he 
had  left  blanks  for  some  words  which  he  could  not  him- 
self transcribe. 

Governor  Geary  had  returned  from  Kansas,  dis- 
gusted with  the  condition  of  things  there,  and  had 
been  replaced  as  Governor  by  Robert  ].  Walker,  who 
was  expected  to  play  the  part  of  "  wrong's  redresser," 
as  the  Prince  did  in  Verona  when  called  to  settle  the 
difficulties  between  the  Montagues  and  the  Capulets. 


PETER  FORCE  was  born  at  Passaic  Falls,  N.  ].,  November  26th,  1790;  became  a  printer  and  jour- 
nalist at  Washington  ;  collected  and  published  many  volumes  of  American  documentary  history ; 
was  Mayor  of  Washington,  1836-1840;  died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  January  23d,  1868. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

PRELUDE  TO  THE  REBELLION. 

ORGANIZATION  OP  THE  SENATE— JOHN  SLIDELL,  OP  LOUISIANA — SENA- 
TOR DOUGLAS  OPPOSES  THE  ADMINISTRATION — BEN  WADE'S  BON  MOT 
—MEETING  OF  THE  HOUSE— ELECTION  OF  SPEAKER— INVESTIGATION 
OF  THE  WOLCOTT  ATTEMPT  AT  BRIBERY — DEBATES  ON  THE  ADMISSION 
OF  KANSAS — NOCTURNAL  ROW  IN  THE  HOUSE — THE  NORTH  VICTORIOUS . 

GENERAL  THOMAS  J.  RUSK,  United  States 
Senator  from  Texas,  who  had  fought  bravely 
at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  had  committed 
suicide  during  the  summer.  He  had  been  elected 
President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  and  the  Senate 
elected  as  his  successor  Senator  Fitzpatrick,  of  Ala- 
bama, a  tall,  fine-looking  man,  whose  wife  was  a  great 
favorite  in  Washington  society.  He  received  twenty- 
eight  votes,  Mr.  Hamlin  receiving  nineteen  votes,  and 
voting  himself  for  Mr.  Seward,  which  showed  the  Re- 
publican strength  in  the  Senate  to  be  twenty. 

The  leader  of  the  Southern  forces  in  the  Senate  was 
Mr.  John  Slidell,  who  was  born  in  New  York,  but  found 
his  way,  when  young,  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  soon 
identified  himself  with  the  Creole  population  and  be- 
came noted  as  a  political  manager.  His  organization 
of  the  colonization  of  the  Plaquemine  Parish,  by  a 
steamboat  load  of  roughs  from  New  Orleans,  secured 
the  defeat  of  Henry  Clay  in  Louisiana  and  virtually 
prevented  his  election  as  President.  Wealthy,  and 
without  conscientious  scruples  on  political  matters  he 
528 


Oration   by  the  Little  Giant.  529 

was  well-fitted  for  the  leading  position  in  the  formation 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  which  he  obtained ;  but 
President  Davis  took  good  care  to  send  him  abroad, 
knowing  that  if  he  could  not  rule  the  Confederacy  he 
would  take  the  first  occasion  to  ruin  it.  What  he 
lacked  in  positive  intellect  he  more  than  made  up  in 
prudence,  industry,  and  energy.  « 

Mr.  Seward  claimed  the  lead  of  the  Republican 
Senators,  but  several  of  them  were  not  disposed  to 
submit  to  his  dictation.  Among  the  Republican 
recruits  was  Zachariah  Chandler,  of  Michigan,  who 
had  gone  west  early  in  life,  and  became  a  leading  dry 
goods  merchant  at  Detroit,  where  he  had  won  popu- 
larity by  his  business  ability,  his  generous  public 
spirit,  and  his  genial  nature.  He  was  over  six  feet  in 
height,  well  proportioned,  with  light  brown  hair  and 
blue-gray  eyes. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  session  Mr.  Douglas  gave 
notice  that  he  would  the  next  afternoon  define  his  posi- 
tion on  the  Kansas  question.  The  announcement 
brought  crowds  to  the  Senate  Chamber.  Every  Sena- 
tor was  in  his  seat ;  every  past  or  present  dignitary 
who  could  claim  a  right  to  "  the  floor  "  was  there,  and 
the  galleries  were  packed  with  spectators,  Mrs.  Doug- 
las prominent  among  the  fairer  portion  of  them.  The 
"'Little  Giant"  was  neatly  dressed  in  a  full  suit  of 
black,  and  rose  to  speak  at  his  seat,  which  was  about  in 
the  middle  of  the  desks  on  the  right  of  the  President's 
chair,  where  the  Democrats  sat.  He  spoke  boldly  and 
decidedly,  though  with  a  studied  courtesy  toward  the 
President.  There  was  a  great  difference  between  the 
question  of  popular  sovereignty  as  advocated  by  Mr. 
Douglas,  and  the  great  question  of  human  freedom  for 
which  Mr.  Sumner  and  other  Representatives  of  North- 
34 


530 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


ern  sentiments  were  stoutly  battling.  After  Mr.  Doug- 
las had  concluded,  Mr.  Brown,  of  Mississippi,  congratu- 
lated Mr.  Henry  Wilson  on  the  "  new  Republican 
ally,"  and  many  other  bitter  things  were  said  about 
him  by  the  Southrons,  but  the  bon  mot  of  the  day  was 
by  Senator  Wade :  "  Never,"  said  he,  "  have  I  seen  a 
slave  insurrection  before." 

There  was  a  large  attendance  at  the  organization  of 

the  House,  when  the  roll- 
call  showed  that  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  were 
present.  Then  Mr.  Phelps 
gracefully  moved  that  the 
House  proceed  to  the  elec- 
tion of  a  Speaker,  there- 
by showing  that  he  was 
not  a  candidate.  Mr.  Jones 
nominated  James  L.  Orr, 
of  South  Carolina  ;  Gov- 
ernor Banks  nominated 
Galusha  A.  Grow ;  and 
H.  W.  Davis  was  nomi- 
nated but  withdrawn.  The 
election  was  then  com- 
menced vive  voce,  the  clerk 
calling  the  roll.  Colonel  Orr  had  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  votes,  and  was  declared  elected. 

Governor  Banks  and  A.  H.  Stephens  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  conduct  the  Speaker-elect  to  the  chair. 
He  then  delivered  a  brief,  sensible  address,  after  which 
he  was  approached  by  the  patriarchal  Giddings,  who 
handed  him  a  small  Bible  and  administered  the  oath  of 
office,  which  duty  devolves  on  the  oldest  Representative 
The  Sergeant-at-Arnis  elevated  his  mace — that  "bauble'' 


JOHN   SLIDELL. 


A   Cheerful  Prison.  531 

of  authority  so  distasteful  to  the  Puritans — and  the 
Speaker  began  to  swear  in  the  members  State  by  State. 

Among  investigations  ordered  was  one  into  an  alleged 
attempt  at  bribery  b}'  Lawrence,  Stone  &  Co.;  when 
the  tariff  bill  was  under  consideration,  which  disclosed 
the  fact  that  they  had  paid  fifty-eight  thousand  dollars 
to  Colonel  Wolcott,  who  came  to  Washington  as  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  Massachusetts  manufacturers.  Col- 
onel Wolcott,  when  brought  before  the  House,  declined 
to  make  the  desired  revelations,  and  Ije  was  locked  up 
in  the  Washington  Jail — a  miserable  old  building. 
Those  Representatives  .who  were  believed  to  have  re- 
ceived some  of  this  money  were  naturally  uneasy,  and 
undertook  to  intimate  that  the  Colonel  had  pocketed 
the  whole  of  it.  He  philosophically  submitted  to  the 
decree  of  the  House,  occupying  the  jailer's  sitting-room 
— a  cheerful  apartment,  with  a  good  fire,  bright  sun- 
shine coming  in  at  the  windows.  He  had  numerous 
visitors,  his  meals  were  sent  him  from  a  restaurant,  and 
he  certainly  did  not  appear  to  suffer  seriously  from  his 
martyrdom. 

In  the  exciting  debates  on  the  admission  01  Kansas, 
Senators  Sumner,  Wilson,  Fessenden,  and  Seward  were 
positive  in  their  denunciation  of  the  use  of  Federal 
troops  for  the  enforcement  of  the  laws,  which  encour- 
aged the  Southern  Senators  in  their  belief  that  the  se- 
cession of  a  State  would  not  be  forcibly  opposed. 
"  The  Senate,"  said  Henry  Wilson,  "  insists  that  the 
President  shall  uphold  this  usurpation — these  enact- 
ments— with  the  bayonet.  Let  us  examine  the  acts  of 
these  usurpers  which  Senators  will  not  repeal ;  which 
they  insist  shall  be  upheld  and  enforced  by  the  sabres 
of  the  dragoons."  Said  William  H.  Seward  :  "  When 
you  hear  me  justify  the  despotism  of  the  Czar  of  Rus- 


532 


Perley*s  Reminiscences. 


sia  over  the  oppressed  Poles,  or  the  treachery  by  which 
Louis  Napoleon  rose  to  a  throne  over  the  ruins  of  the 
Republic  in  France,  on  the  ground  that  he  preserves 
domestic  peace  among  his  subjects,  then  you  may  ex- 
pect me  to  vote  supplies  of  men  and  money  to  the 
President  that  he  may  keep  the  army  in  Kansas." 
Ben  Wade  was  equally  severe  on  the  use  of  the  army, 
declaring  "  that  the  honorable  business  of  a  soldier  had 

been  perverted  to  act 
as  a  petty  bailiff  and 
constable  to  arrest  and 
tyrannize  over  men." 
The  racket  in  the 
House  of  Representa- 
tives commenced  with 
a  struggle  as  to  wheth- 
er the  President's  Mes- 
sage or  the  Lecomp- 
ton  Constitution  of 
Kansas  should  be  re- 
ferred to  the  Demo- 
cratic Committee  on 
Territories  or  to  a  se- 
lect committee  of  fif- 
teen. The  session  was 
protracted  into  the  night,  and  after  midnight  but  few 
spectators  remained  in  the  galleries.  Those  Repre- 
sentatives who  could  secure  sofas  enjoyed  naps  be- 
tween the  roll-calls,  while  others  visited  committee- 
rooms,  in  which  were  private  supplies  of  refresh- 
ments. About  half-past  one,  Mr.  Grow,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, then  standing  on  the  Democratic  side  of  the 
House,  objected  to  General  Quitman's  making  any  re- 
marks. "  If  you  are  going  to  object,"  shouted  Mr. 


HENRY  WILSON. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  FIGHT  BY  NIGHT. 


534  Per  ley*  s  Reminiscences . 

Keitt,  of  South  Carolina,  "  return  to  your  own  side  of 
the  hall."  Mr.  Grow  responded  :  u  This  is  a  free  hall, 
and  every  man  has  a  right  to  be  where  he  pleases." 
Mr.  Keitt  then  came  up  to  Mr.  Grow  and  said :  "I 
want  to  know  what  you  mean  by  such  an  answer  as 
that."  Mr..  Grow  replied:  "I  mean  just  what  I  say; 
this  is  a  free  hall,  and  a  man  has  the  right  to  be  where 
he  pleases."  "Sir,"  said  Mr.  Keitt,  "I  will  let  you 
know  that  you  are  a  black  Republican  puppy."  "Never 
mind,"  retorted  Mr.  Grow,  "I  shall  occupy  such  place 
in  this  hall  as  I  please,  and  no  negro-driver  shall  crack 
his  whip  over  me."  The  two  then  rushed  at  each  other 
with  clinched  fists.  A  dozen  Southerners  at  once  has- 
tened to  the  affray,  while  as  many  anti-Lecompton  men 
came  to  the  rescue,  and  Keitt  received — not  from  Grow, 
however — a  blow  that  knocked  him  down.  Mr.  Potter, 
of  Wisconsin,  a  very  athletic,  compactly  built  man, 
bounded  into  the  centre  of  the  excited  group,  striking' 
right  and  left  with  vigor.  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  and 
his  brother,  of  Wisconsin,  also  were  prominent,  and  for 
a  minute  or  two  it  seemed  as  though  we  were  to  have 
a  Kilkenny  fight  on  a  magnificent  scale.  Barksdale 
had  hold  of  Grow,  when  Potter  struck  him  a  severe 
blow,  supposing  that  he  was  hurting  that  gentleman. 
Barksdale,  turning  around  and  supposing  it  was  Elihu 
Washburne  who  struck  him,  dropped  Grow,  and  struck 
out  at  the  gentleman  from  Illinois.  Cadwallader  Wash- 
burne, perceiving  the  attack  upon  his  brother,  also  made 
a  dash  at  Mr.  Barksdale,  and  seized  him  by  the  hair, 
apparently  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  him  "  into  chan- 
cery "  and  pommeling  him  to  greater  satisfaction. 
Horrible  to  relate,  Mr.  Barksdale's  wig  came  off  in 
Cadwallader's  left  hand,  and  his  right  fist  expended  it- 
self with  tremendous  force  against  the  unresisting  air. 


A  Free  Fight.  535 

This  ludicrous  incident  unquestionably  did  much 
toward  restoring  good  nature  subsequently,  and  its 
effect  was  heightened  not  a  little  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
excitement  of  the  occasion  Barksdale  restored  his  wig 
wrong-side  foremost. 

The  Speaker  shouted  and  rapped  for  order  without 
effect.  The  Sergeant-at-Arms  stalked  to  'the  scene  of 
battle,  mace  in  hand,  but  his  "  American  eagle  "  had 
no  more  effect  than  the  Speaker's  gavel.  Owen  Love- 
joy  and  Lamar,  of  Mississippi,  were  pawing  each  other 
at  one  point,  each  probably  trying  to  persuade  the 
other  to  be  still.  Mr.  Mott,  the  gray-haired  Quaker 
Representative  from  Ohio,  was  seen  going  here  and 
there  in  the  crowd.  Reuben  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  got 
a  severe  but  accidental  blow  from  Mr.  Grow,  and 
various  gentlemen  sustained  slight  bruises  and 
scratches.  A  Virginia  Representative,  who  thought 
Montgomery,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  about  to  "  pitch  in," 
laid  his  hand  upon  his  arm  to  restrain  him,  and  was 
peremptorily  ordered  to  desist  or  be  knocked  down. 
Mr.  Covode,  of  Pennsylvania,  caught  up  a  heavy  stone- 
ware spittoon,  with  which  to  "brain"  whoever  might 
seem  to  deserve  it,  but  fortunately  did  not  get  far 
enough  into  the  excited  crowd  to  find  an  appropriate 
subject  for  his  vengeance;  and  all  over  the  hall  every- 
body was  excited  for  the  time. 

Fortunately,  it  did  not  last  long,  and  no  weapons 
were  openly  displayed.  When  order  was  restored 
several  gentlemen  were  found  to  present  an  excessively 
tumbled  and  disordered  appearance,  but  there  remained 
little  else  to  recall  the  excitement.  Gentlemen  of 
opposite  parties  crossed  over  to  each  other  to  explain 
their  pacific  dispositions,  and  that  they  got  into  a  fight 
when  their  only  purpose  was  to  prevent  a  fight.  Mu- 


536  Per iey 's   Reminiscences. 

tual  explanations  and  a  hearty  laugh  at  the  ludicrous 
points  of  the  drama  were  followed  by  quiet  and  a 
return  to  business.  It  was  finally  agreed,  about  half- 
past  six  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  that  the  Demo- 
crats would  permit  a  vote  to  be  taken  on  Monday  with- 
out further  debate,  delay,  or  dilatory  motion. 

When  Mr.  Orr's  mallet  rapped  the  House  to  order 
at  noon  on  Monday,  only  six  of  the  two  hundred  and 
thirty-four  Representatives  were  absent,  and  the  gal- 
leries were  packed  like  boxes  of  Smyrna  figs.  Rev. 
Dr.  Sampson  made  a  conciliatory  prayer,  the  journal 
was  read,  two  enrolled  bills  were  presented,  and  then 
the  Speaker,  in  an  unusually  earnest  tone,  stated  the 
question.  Tellers  had  been  ordered,  and  he  appointed 
Messrs.  Buffinton,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Craige,  of 
North  Carolina.  "  Is  the  demand  for  the  previous 
question  seconded?" 

The  imposing  form  of  BufHnton  was  soon  seen 
making  his  way  down  to  the  area  before  the  Speaker's 
table,  where  Craige  met  him.  The  two  shook  hands, 
and  there  was  then  a  quick  obedience  to  the  Speaker's 
request  that  gentlemen  in  favor  of  the  motion  would 
pass  between  the  tellers.  Father  Giddings,  crowned 
with  silvery  locks,  led  the  Republican  host  down  to  be 
counted.  Burlingame  followed,  and  among  others  who 
filed  along  were  Henry  Winter  Davis,  General  Spinner, 
John  Sherman,  General  Bingham,  Frank  Blair,  the 
trio  of  Washburnes,  Gooch,  Schuyler  Colfax,  John 
Covode,  Governor  Fenton,  Senator  Cragin,  and  burly 
Humphrey  Marshall.  When  all  had  passed  between 
the  tellers  Buffinton  wheeled  about  and  reported  to  the 
Speaker,  who  announced  the  result  rather  hesitatingly: 
"  One  hundred  and  ten  in  the  affirmative.  Those 
opposed  will  now  pass  between  the  tellers." 


Polling  the  House.  537 

Then  the  Southern  Democrats,  with  their  Northern 
allies,  came  trooping  down,  headed  by  the  attenuated 
Stephens.  Dan  Sickles  and  John  Cochrane,  who  were 
afterward  generals  in  the  Union  armies,  were  then 
allied  with  Zollicoffer,  Keitt,  and  others,  who  fell  in 
the  Confederate  ranks,  and  there  were  so  many  of 
them  that  the  result  appeared  doubtful.  At  last  it  was 
Mr.  Craige's  turn  to  report,  and  then  all  was  silent  as 
the  grave. 

The  Speaker's  usually  loud,  clear  voice  hesitated  as 
he  at  last  announced :  u  One  hundred  and  four  in  the 
negative.  The  ayes  have  it,  and  the  demand  for  the 
previous  question  is  seconded.  Shall  the  main  ques- 
tion be  now  put  ?"  The  main  question  was  next  put, 
and  the  vote  by  ayes  and  nays  on  a  reference  of  the 
Kansas  question  to  the  Committee  on  Territories,  was 
ayes,  113;  nays,  114.  Then  came  the  vote  on  the 
reference  to  a  select  committee  of  fifteen,  and  Speaker 
Orr  had  to  announce  the  result,  ayes,  114;  nays,  in. 
The  North  was  at  last  victorious. 


HOWBLL  COBB  was  born  at  Cherry  Hill,  Ga.,  September  7th,  1815 ;  graduated  at  Franklin  College, 
>834;  was  Representative  from  Georgia,  1843-1851  and  1855-1860;  was  chosen  Speaker,  1849;  was. 
Governor  of  Georgia,  1851 ;  was  President  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  1861 ;  died  in  New  York- 
city,  October  gth,  1868. 


CHAPTER  XUV. 

POLITICIANS,   AUTHORS     AND   HUMORISTS. 

WADE,  OP  OHIO — JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  OF  MISSISSIPPI— JOHNSON,  OF  AR- 
KANSAS—ANTHONY, OF  RHODE  ISLAND— TROLLOPE,  OF  ENGLAND— 
ONE  OF  MIKE  WALSH'S  JOKES— ALBERT  PIKE'S  WAKE— THE  SONS  OF 
MALTA. 

BLUFF  BEN  WADE,  a  Senator  from  Ohio,  was 
the  champion  of  the  North  in  the  upper  house 
during  the  prolonged  debates  on  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill.     Dueling  had  long  been  regarded  as  a 
lost  art  in  the  Northern  States,  but  Mr.  Wade  deter- 
mined that  he  would  accept  a  challenge  should  one  be 
sent   him,  or  defend    himself  should  he  be  attacked. 
But  no  one    either  assaulted  or  challenged  him,    al- 
though he  gave  his  tongue  free  license. 

One  day  Senator  Badger  spoke  plaintively  of  slavery 
from  a  Southern  point  of  view.  In  his  childhood,  he 
said,  he  was  nursed  by  an  old  negro  woman,  and  he 
grew  to  manhood  under  her  care.  He  loved  his  "  old 
black  mammy,"  and  she  loved  him.  But  if  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  were  triumphant, 
and  he  wished  to  go  to  either  of  those  Territories,  he 
could  not  take  his  "  old  black  mammy  "  with  him. 
Turning  to  Mr.  Wade,  he  exclaimed  :  "  Surely,  you 
will  not  prevent  me  from  taking  my  old  black  mammy 
with  me  ?"  "  It  is  not,"  remarked  the  Senator  from 
Ohio,  dryly,  "  that  he  cannot  take  his  old  black 

533 


A  Future  Leader. 


539 


mammy  with  him  that  troubles  the  mind  of  the  Sena- 
tor, but  that  if  we  make  the  Territories  free,  he  cannot 
sell  the  old  black  mammy  when  he  gets  her  there." 

The  future  leader  of  the  Great  Rebellion,  Senator 
Jefferson  Davis,  had  then  assumed  the  leadership  of  the 
Southern  Senators  and  their  Northern  allies.  His  best 
friends  were  forced  to  admit  that  his  bearing,  even 


AN  OLD-TIME  "MAMMY"   IN   HER  OLD-TIME  HOME. 

toward  them,  had  become  haughty,  and  his  manners 
imperious.  His  thin,  spare  figure,  his  almost  sorrow- 
ful cast  of  countenance,  composed,  however,  in  an  in- 
variable expression  of  dignity,  gave  the  idea  of  a  body 
worn  by  the  action  of  the  mind,  an  intellect  supporting 
in  its  prison  of  flesh  the  pains  of  constitutional  dis- 
ease, and  triumphing  over  physical  confinement  and 


54-O  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

affliction.  His  carriage  was  erect — there  was  a  soldierly 
affectation,  of  which,  indeed,  the  hero  of  Buena  Vista 
gave  evidence  through  his  life,  having  the  singular  con- 
ceit that  his  genius  was  military  and  fitter  for  arms 
than  for  the  council.  He  had  a  precise  manner,  and 
an  austerity  that  was  at  first  forbidding  ;  but  his  voice 
was  always  clear  and  firm.  Although  not  a  scholar  in 
the  pedantic  sense  of  the  term,  and  making  no  pre- 
tensions to  the  doubtful  reputation  of  the  sciolist,  his 
reading  was  classical  and  varied,  his  fund  of  illustra- 
tion large,  and  his  resources  of  imagery  plentiful  and 
always  apposite. 

Senator  Robert  W.  Johnson — "  Bob  Johnson,"  every 
one  called  him — had  made  many  friends  while  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House,  and  was  one  of  the  most  popular 
Senators.  He  was  a  man  of  generous  feeling,  honor- 
able impulses,  and  a  cheerful  humor,  which  had  en- 
deared him  to  the  homely  backwoodsmen  of  his  State. 
He  was  a  fine  speaker,  pouring  forth  fact  and  argument 
with  an  earnestness  that  riveted  attention,  and  lighting 
up  the  dull  path  of  logic  with  the  glow  of  his  captivat- 
ing fancy,  while  he  spiced  his  remarks  with  the  idio- 
syncrasies of  frontier  oratory,  familiar  and  quaint  illus- 
trations, and  blunt  truths.  At  heart  he  loved  the 
Union,  but  he  could  not  stand  up  against  the  public 
sentiment  of  his  State. 

Henry  Bowen  Anthony  was  the  first  Republican 
Senator  who  had  not  been  identified  with  the  Abolition- 
ists. Before  he  had  been  a  week  in  the  Senate,  he  was 
graciously  informed  that  the  Southern  Senators  recog- 
nized him  as  a  gentleman,  and  proposed  to  invite  him 
to  their  houses.  .  "  I  can  enter  no  door,"  sturdily  re- 
plied the  man  of  Quaker  ancestry,  "  which  is  closed 
against  any  Northern  Senator."  Mr.  Anthony  was  at 


Starting  a  Joke.  541 

that  time  a  very  handsome  man,  with  jet  black  hair, 
blue  eyes,  and  a  singularly  sweet  expression  of  coun- 
tenance. His  editorial  labors  on  the  Providencey<?&r- 
nal  had  given  him  a  rare  insight  into  men  and  politics, 
which  qualified  him  for  Senatorial  life.  He  was  soon  a 
favorite  in  Washington  society,  wit  and  general  infor- 
mation embellishing  his  brilliant  conversation,  while 
his  social  virtues  gave  to  his  life  a  daily  beauty. 

Ostensibly  to  negotiate  a  postal  treaty,  but  really  to 
see  what  could  be  done  about  an  international  copy- 
right between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
came  Anthony  Trollope,  Bsq.  He.  was  a  short,  stout 
old  gentleman,  with  a  round,  rosy  face  and  snow-white 
hair,  who  loved  to  talk,  and  who  talked  well.  His 
mother,  Mrs.  Frances  Trollope,  had  written  a  cruelly 
sarcastic  book  on  the  manners  and  customs  of  Ameri- 
cans in  1830,  and  he  was  somewhat  dogmatic  in  his 
criticisms  of  what  he  saw  and  heard.  He  shone  es- 
pecially at  gentlemen's  evening  parties,  at  which  he 
narrated  anecdotes  about  Macaulay,  Dickens,  and 
Thackeray,  and  of  his  own  exploits  in  "  'unting," 
which  he  regarded  as  the  noblest  of  all  pastimes. 

Mike  Walsh  was  not  only  a  demagogue,  but  an  in- 
corrigible joker.  He  used  frequently  to  visit  Wash- 
ington after  the  expiration  of  his  Congressional  term, 
and  was  in  the  city  after  the  close  of  the  summer  session 
of  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress.  Judge  Douglas  was  also 
there,  busily  engaged  in  advancing  his  Presidential 
prospects.  One  evening,  as  Walsh  was  sitting  in  front 
of  the  Kirkwood  House,  he  remarked  that  the  weather 
looked  threatening,  but  that  he  hoped  it  would  prove 
good  on  account  of  the  serenade  that  was  to  be  given 
to  Judge  Douglas  that  night.  The  thing  took  at  once, 
and  he  visited  all  the  hotels,  and  in  casual  conversa- 


542  Per 'ley "s  Reminiscences. 

tions  broached  the  serenade,  and  the  fact  that  the 
Marine  Band  had  been  engaged  for  the  occasion. 
When  ten  o'clock  p.  M.  came  there  were  not  less  than 
six  or  seven  hundred  people  in  front  of  Judge  Douglas's 
new  residence ;  and  as  the  streets  had  been  newly 
opened  and  were  still  unpaved,  the  niud  was  ankle- 
deep.  There  were  also  some  thirty  or  forty  hacks  and 
a  number  of  private  carriages ;  and  as  the  Judge  and 
his  beautiful  and  accomplished  wife  had  heard  of  the 
intended  ovation,  they  had  prepared  for  the  emergency 
by  taking  up  the  parlor  carpets  and  setting  out  a  col- 
lation for  the  sovereigns.  But,  alas  !  no  Marine  Band 
appeared ;  and  as  eleven  o'clock  came  and  no  music, 
the  crowd  began  slowly  to  thin  out,  until  at  last  it  got 
whispered  around  that  Mike  Walsh  had  something  to 
do  with  the  getting  up  of  the  serenade,  when,  amid 
curses  and  loud  guffaws,  there  was  a  general  stampede 
of  the  crowd. 

In  the  midst  of  the  stormy  debates  at  the  Capitol, 
there  was  an  entertainment  where  men  of  both  sections 
fraternized.  It  was  a  "wake"  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
John  Coyle,  the  cashier  of  the  National  Intelligencer, 
whose  Milesian  blood  had  prompted  him  to  pay  Hi- 
bernian honors  to  the  memory  of  one  who  had  often 
been  his  guest.  The  funereal  banquet  had  been  post- 
poned, however,  in  true  Irish  style,  when  it  had  been 
ascertained  that  the  deceased  was  not  dead,  and  in  due 
time  the  guests  were  again  invited,  to  honor  him  whom 
they  had  mourned — Albert  Pike,  of  Arkansas.  There 
he  was,  with  stalwart  form,  noble  features,  waving  hair, 
and  a  patriarchal  beard — at  once  the  Kit  North  and  the 
Korner  of  America. 

After  a  neat  welcome  by  the  host,  uprose  the  erudite 
dignitary  of  the  State  Department,  and  he  read,  in 


A  Jolly   Wake. 

deep,  full  tones,  an  obituary  sketch  of  the  supposed  de- 
ceased, which  he  had  prepared  upon  the  receipt  of  the 
sad  news.  Pike's  remarks,  in  reply,  were  touchingly 
beautiful,  especially  when  he  expressed  his  delight  at 
having  read  kind  notices  of  himself  from  those  whom 
he  had  feared  were  his -enemies,  and  his  hopes  that  all 
enmity  between  him  and  his  fellow-men  might  remain 
buried  in  that  tomb  to  which  he  had  been  consigned 


THE  WAKE  AT  COYLE'S-RESPONSE  OF  THE  CORPSE. 


Jack  Savage  then  sang  a  song  (to  the  tune  of  "Benny 
Havens,  O!"),  describing  a  forced  visit  of  "the  fine 
Arkansas  gentleman"  to  the  Stygian  shore,  where  he 
craved  permission  of  Pluto  to  return  to  earth  for  one 
night  at  Coyle's  : 

" '  Are  you  not  dead  ? '  the  King  then  said.     '  Well,  what  of  that  ?'  said 

he, 
'  If  I  am  dead,  I've  not  been  waked,  and  buried  dacently.' 


544  Perley^s  Reminiscences. 

'  And  why,'  the  monarch  cried,  '  desire  again  to  share  life's  toils?' 
'  For  the  sake  of  one  good  frolic  more,  even  at  Johnny  Coyle's.' 

One  spree  at  Johnny  Coyle's  ;  one  spree  at  Johnny  Coyle's  ; 

And  who  would  not  be  glad  to  join  a  spree  at  Johnny  Coyle's  ?" 

Pluto  then  enumerated  the  good  cheer  and  good  com- 
pany, and  "  Horace  and  Anacreon  in  vain  would  have 
him  stay."  But  the  gentleman  from  Arkansas  demon- 
strated that  they  were  all  surpassed  at  Johnny  Coyle's. 
The  recital  of  the  genial  qualities  of  various  gentlemen 
named  enlisted  Prosperine,  who  urged  Pluto  to  let  him 
go,  that  he  might  return,  bringing  his  friends  with  him. 

"  And  so  the  Queen  at  last  prevailed,  as  women  always  do, 
And  thus  it  comes  that  once  again  this  gentleman's  with  you  ; 
He's  under  promise  to  return,  but  that  he  means  to  break, 
And  many  another  spree  to  have  besides  the  present  wake. 
One  spree  at  Johnny  Coyle's,  etc." 

This  song  was  followed  by  a  story,  and  tnat  story  by 
a  song,  and  it  was  nearly  daylight  in  the  morning  be- 
fore the  guests  separated. 


GBORGB  BANCROI»T  was  born  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  October  3d,  1800;  graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  1817;  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy  under  President  Polk,  1845-1846;  was  Minister  to  Great 
Britain,  1846^1849  ;  to  Prussia,  1867-1871 ;  to  Germany,  1871-1874. 


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